Pokemon Journey Unova Arc
by powerstaark
Summary: After losing to Tobias in the Sinnoh League, Harry Rowan sets his sights on the Unova Region. Along with his newly evolved and telepathic Lucario, he travels the region with the intent to participate in the Unova League.
1. A New Journey Begins

**Hi guys. Here's the first chapter of my next Pokémon story. Having received some very harsh, rather insulting but overall necessary criticism by GarionRiva in my last story, I'll try to keep this one focussed on Harry and his Pokémon and at least acknowledge reviews. Ash is in Unova and unlike in the anime, he's retained the experience and skill he had in Sinnoh, so anyone as inexperienced as Trip or as stupid as Cameron will be getting their asses handed to them. Harry and Ash will meet up from time to time but I'll try not to focus too much on Ash, because that was one of the things GarionRiva scolded me about in the last story.**

Harry Rowan woke up and yawned. The eleven year old boy got out of bed and went to the window. He looked out and saw his grandfather's lab opposite his house. Harry was lucky enough to be the grandson of the renowned Professor Rowan, so the lab was essentially his second home. It was also where all of his Pokemon lived whenever they weren't travelling with him.

It had been a week since Harry's three best human friends, Dawn, Ash and Brock had returned home. While Dawn lived only a couple of miles away, Ash and Brock lived in a different region altogether. Harry had decided that he would travel to the Unova region after visiting Dawn. Before he left, Ash had mentioned that he would be travelling there too so Harry was hoping to bump into him during the journey.

In Rowan's lab, Harry's Starter Pokemon Lucario was swinging and twirling a bone made out of Aura. He'd been practicing Bone Rush ever since they got home.

"Well done," Harry said. Lucario wasn't surprised by his sudden arrival due to their Aura connection so he just smiled and nodded. Harry's Chimchar suddenly landed on her trainer's shoulder. Harry patted her head and said, "Morning."

"Chimchar," Chimchar said happily then hopped off his shoulder. Harry's Drifblim suddenly ambushed Harry and hugged him. Harry chuckled slightly and hugged her back before Drifblim allowed him to pass through her body, which felt like passing through hot air, and greet Vespiquen and Bronzong, who were behind her. Both Bronzong and Vespiquen were quite fond of hugging him too, especially Bronzong who had only been able to hug people after it evolved.

The two Eeveelution siblings, Glaceon and Leafeon also arrived. Glaceon rubbed affectionately against her trainer's leg and Harry stroked her in return. Her cold fur was flat which showed she was relaxed as it would sharpen into icy needles if she was upset. Harry also gave Leafeon a pat on the head and then noticed a keystone with strange markings on it lying against a tree. Spiritomb's vortex like body emerged from the keystone and he gave Harry a grin that would look evil to anyone who didn't know the Forbidden Pokemon. Harry grinned back.

Near the back of Professor Rowan's huge garden was a reservoir for any Water Pokemon who lived at the lab. Harry's Floatzel poked his head out of the water and waved to his trainer. Harry waved back, then found Luxray lying under a tree. The Gleam Eyes Pokemon glanced up at his trainer, gave a brief smile and closed his eyes again.

Harry's last two Pokemon were Drapion and Garchomp and as the most violent Pokemon in his arsenal, the two of them liked to square off against each other. Drapion had initially sought Luxray as a rival but due to a traumatic experience Luxray had as a Shinx, the Gleam Eyes Pokemon hated to be within ten feet of the Ogre Scorp Pokemon. Although aggressive, Drapion was understanding enough to leave Luxray alone and therefore preferred to challenge Garchomp instead.

Harry watched as Garchomp dived towards Drapion, surrounded by the blue energy of Dragon Rush. Drapion stood still for a moment, then ducked at the last second and reached up with the claws on the end of his tail. The claws closed around Garchomp's neck, stopping the Dragon Rush. However Garchomp was a large Pokemon so by slamming both his feet on Drapion's back, he knocked the Ogre Scorp Pokemon onto his belly. Now Drapion was trapped under Garchomp's fairly considerable weight while Garchomp's head was still trapped in Drapion's tail, so that he was hunched over with his notched fin up in the air.

"Okay Drapion, you can let go now," Harry called. Drapion obeyed and Garchomp jumped off his back. Both Pokemon grunted with relief once they were free, "I'm going to visit Dawn and then tomorrow, I'll be going to Unova."

" _I'm coming too,_ " said the telepathic voice of Lucario. As a Pokemon with both Aura and potential Psychic abilities which had manifested themselves in the form of Hidden Power, Lucario had the rare ability to talk to his trainer with his mind. Although not experienced enough to talk to anyone who lacked Aura, Lucario was trying to make his telepathic voice understandable for other humans too but so far hadn't had much success.

"Of course," Harry said.

* * *

"Hi Harry," said Dawn happily when Harry arrived at her house on his bike. Lucario was with him, having easily been able to travel the two miles between Harry and Dawn's homes, "Hi Lucario."

" _Hello Dawn,_ " Lucario said.

"Hi Dawn," Harry said then gestured to Lucario, "Did you hear him?"

"No," Dawn said.

" _Damn,_ " Lucario muttered as Dawn and Harry hugged each other. Dawn's Piplup hopped onto Dawn's head and waved at Lucario who raised a hand in greeting.

"Come in," Dawn said, "Mum's just finished making lunch."

After lunch Harry and Dawn flicked through a few channels on the television. After watching a rerun of the battle between the newest Sinnoh Elite 4 member Tobias and the now retired Elite 4 member Bertha, they switched off the television.

"So you're going to Unova tomorrow?" Dawn said.

"Yep," Harry replied, "What are you planning to do?"

"I think I'll go to Kanto," Dawn said, "Meet up with Brock and see if I can win the Grand Festival."

"Say hi to Brock for me while you're there," Harry said.

"I will," Dawn replied, "If you find Ash in Unova, say hi to him from me too."

"Right," Harry agreed, "I wonder if Ash decided to evolve Pikachu?"

" _Pikachu has no reason to remain a Pikachu any longer,_ " Lucario said and Harry nodded.

Dawn cocked her head slightly, unsure what Harry's nod meant since she still couldn't hear Lucario. She shrugged off her curiousity and said, "Well you'll find out when you meet up with him."

"Yeah," Harry replied, "Well I think Lucario and I should get going. I haven't packed."

"Good luck in the Unova League," Dawn said, "Just don't forget to register."

"I won't," Harry said, "Good luck in Kanto."

"Thanks," Dawn said and stood up. They passed Johanna, Dawn's mother, on the way to the door.

"Do you want me to drive you home?" Johanna asked when she noticed Harry was leaving.

"No thanks," Harry said, "Lucario prefers walking."

"Okay then," Johanna said, "Bye."

"Bye," Harry replied and took out his portable bike before unfolding it and climbing on, "See you Dawn."

"Bye bye," Dawn said and Harry raised a hand to her then looked at Lucario.

"Race you home," he said. Lucario smirked.

" _You don't have a chance,_ " he replied.

* * *

Lucario was right. Even on his bike, Harry couldn't keep up with the Aura Pokemon. Lucario returned to Rowan's lab while Harry went home to pack for the upcoming journey.

Harry was feeling nervous. He'd never left his home region before and by the end of tomorrow, he'd be in completely unfamiliar land. Rowan had assured him that he could still transfer Pokemon from Sinnoh to Unova if necessary, so Harry wouldn't be completely cut off from his family, but he still felt more nervous than excited.

* * *

"Goodbye dear," said Harry's mother, Antonia as she hugged her son, "Look after yourself."

"Don't worry, I've got Lucario with me," Harry said.

"Good luck kiddo," said his father, Richard and ruffled Harry's dark hair.

"Thanks," Harry said, "Bye."

After hugging both of his parents, Harry and Lucario went to the boat that would take them to Unova. Along with tourists, there were several other trainers going too.

Harry and Lucario went up the ramp and one of the sailors showed them to their quarters, which were not designed for Pokemon due to the assumption that Pokemon would sleep in their Poke Balls. While Lucario was not averse to Poke Balls, he preferred to be outside them so he was content to sleep on the floor.

"Two day trip," Harry said, "How are we gonna keep outselves entertained for that long?"

" _Find some trainers to battle,_ " Lucario suggested.

"Okay," Harry said, "Let's find someone to battle tomorrow."

* * *

"Lucario, Bone Rush!" Harry ordered and Lucario used Aura to create a bone before leaping across the ships deck towards his opponent.

"Marowak use Bone Rush too!" cried the opposing trainer, a dark haired young man named Jeremy. Marowak, a small Pokemon with a head that seemed to be made out of a white, skull like helmet, raised the bone it was holding and blocked Lucario's overhand strike, then pushed Lucario's bone away and swept his legs out from under him. Lucario landed on his side and hastily held up his bone in his left hand to block an overhand strike, before dissipating the bone, rolling away and leaping to his feet.

"Aura Sphere!" Harry ordered and Lucario formed a blue orb of Aura between his hands and hurled it at Marowak.

"Bone Club!" ordered Jeremy and Marowak used its bone like a baseball bat and knocked the Aura Sphere straight back into Lucario, "Now Bone Rush again!" Marowak twirled its bone and charged across the deck towards Lucario.

"Bone Rush too!" Harry ordered and Lucario created a bone of his own but Marowak had spent a lifetime wielding bones so the Aura Pokemon was quickly overwhelmed. Marowak disarmed him and his Aura bone dissipated before it even landed on the ships deck. Marowak then clobbered Lucario over the head and Lucario crashed to the floor.

"Your Lucario's only just learned Bone Rush, hasn't it?" Jeremy said.

"Is it that obvious?" asked Harry, helping Lucario to his feet while the Aura Pokemon rubbed his head.

"Yeah," Jeremy said, "Lucario doesn't know much about bone wielding."

"Marowak," said Marowak gesturing to itself and twirling its bone eagerly.

" _Marowak wants to teach me,_ " Lucario translated for Harry. Jeremy, who didn't need a translation, smiled at Marowak.

"You want to be Lucario's mentor, Marowak?" he asked.

"Maro," said Marowak with a nod.

"Well we've still got a day until we reach Unova," Harry said, "You up for it, Lucario?"

" _When am I not up for training_?" Lucario replied, before speaking in his own language to communicate with Marowak. The Bone Keeper Pokemon nodded and gestured to Lucario with its bone. Lucario used Aura to create another bone and Marowak began showing him how to use it properly.

* * *

The boat arrived in Nuvema Town which, although small, had a fairly busy harbour. A Pokemon Lab was visible near the edge of the town.

"Well I guess this is goodbye," Jeremy said.

"Thanks for helping Lucario with Bone Rush," Harry said.

"Don't thank me," Jeremy responded, "Thank Marowak."

"Okay," Harry knelt down to Marowak's level, "Thanks for training Lucario, Marowak."

"Maro," Marowak nodded and smiled. Lucario said something to him in Lucario language which Harry assumed was thank you. Marowak then raised its bone. Lucario tilted his head curiously.

"Marowak does that when he's hoping to have a rematch someday," Jeremy told Harry. Lucario created a bone of his own and crossed it with Marowak's bone. Satisfied, Marowak lowered its bone and Lucario dissipated his.

"Well you're challenging the Unova League right?" Harry said.

"Of course," Jeremy replied.

"Then I guess I'll see you there," Harry said and they shook hands, before going their separate ways.

* * *

It was reassuring to know that Pokemon Centers were as easily identifiable in Unova as they were in Sinnoh. Unlike the Centers in Sinnoh however, the resident nurse Pokemon were a species that Harry had never seen, which was no surprise since he was in an entirely different region. Fortunately his grandfather had updated his pokedex before he left.

" _Audino the Hearing Pokemon._ _Its sense of hearing is astounding. It has a radar-like ability to understand its surrounding through slight sounds_."

"Audino," said the Pokemon warmly as it approached Harry and Lucario.

"Hello," Harry said. Audino looked curiously at Lucario, "I'd like to see your trainer please."

"Audi," Audino said and stopped examining Lucario as it gestured for the pair to follow it. Harry and Lucario were led to a room where a pink haired young woman was working.

"Nurse Joy?" Harry said.

" _Seriously?_ " Lucario said, " _How many clones of this woman are there?_ "

"Hello," said Nurse Joy, "Can I help you?"

"Um yes," Harry said, "I'd like to register for the Unova league please."

"No problem," said Nurse Joy and took Harry and Lucario to a machine, "I'll need to have a look at your Pokedex please." Harry gave it to her and she scanned it with the machine, "All done."

"Thank you," Harry replied, "Could I also book a room please?"

"Of course," Nurse Joy replied.

* * *

The next day Harry and Lucario had a look around the town. First they went to the Poke Mart to stock up on items they would need. They eventually arrived at the Pokemon Lab and saw a woman in her late twenties or early thirties wearing a lab coat. She was feeding a Snivy and Tepig in the garden. She looked up and noticed them.

"Oh my goodness," she said, springing to her feet, "A Lucario."

"Hello," Harry said, "Are you Professor Juniper?"

"Yes," the woman replied, "And you are…?"

"Harry Rowan," Harry said, "Perhaps you know my grandfather."

"Oh yes, Professor Rowan was my mentor ten years ago," Juniper replied, "Well actually it was eleven years ago if I'm being accurate. You look about that age. I remember the Professor mentioning that his daughter was pregnant just before I became a Professor."

"Yeah, I turned eleven just after the Sinnoh League," Harry said, "During the league, Lucario defeated a Darkrai while he was still a Riolu."

" _I wanted to beat at least one Legendary Pokemon before evolving,_ " Lucario said but Juniper couldn't hear him and had started speaking at the same time.

"What was a Darkrai doing in the Sinnoh League?" asked Juniper.

"The newest member of the Sinnoh Elite 4 had one," Harry said, "He said he caught it with a Pokemon from this region so I decided to come here after he beat me."

"I see," Juniper said, "Well we hardly ever see Lucario in this region."

"I bet a telepathic Lucario's even rarer," Harry said.

"Telepathic?"

"He can talk with his mind," Harry said, "Only to me and a friend of mine who has Aura but he's hoping to be able to communicate with anyone with more practice."

"I'd like to find out more about Aura," said Juniper, "I didn't know it could be used for telepathy."

"Well Lucario also has Psychic potential so I guess that strengthens his telepathic potential," Harry said.

" _I've still got a long way to go until I master it,_ " Lucario said.

"Lucario says he's still got a long way to go until he masters it," Harry said, "Basically he and I have to act as each others translators until he gets the hang of telepathy."

" _Great so I'm just here to be your translator_?" Lucario asked.

"No, you're also here because I can't battle Pokémon myself and I need a friend to keep me company," Harry said.

"Is Lucario really talking to you?" Juniper asked looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Yeah," Harry said, "I guess it's weird for someone who can't hear him."

"A bit," Juniper said, "I hope Lucario does master telepathy otherwise people are going to think you're mad. Now if you'll excuse me, a Pokemon of mine went missing a couple of days ago."

"No problem," Harry said, "Lucario can find it. What's the species?"

"An Oshawott," Juniper said.

" _I don't know what an Oshawott's Aura looks like,_ " Lucario said, " _Or its physical body for that matter._ "

"Do you have a picture of Oshawott?" asked Harry.

"Yes," Juniper said, "Hold on." She went into her lab and returned with a photo of all three of the Unova Starter Pokemon. Lucario examined Oshawott then closed his eyes and extended his Aura sense, using it to search the entire lab.

" _I can't sense it,_ " Lucario said, " _It must be out of my Aura's range._ "

"Lucario can't find it," Harry said as Lucario opened his eyes and shrugged helplessly.

"I hope it's alright," Juniper muttered, "Would you like to come in?"

"Thanks for the offer but I think I should get started on my journey," Harry said, "Could you tell me where the nearest Gym is?"

"Striaton City," Juniper replied, "The quickest route there is through Accumula Town."

"Thanks," Harry said, "Hope you find Oshawott. Let's go Lucario."

Harry and Lucario walked away from Juniper's lab and headed towards the forest on the edge of town. Whilst walking they looked around at the unfamiliar Pokemon going about their everyday lives. Harry and Lucario caught each others eye and smiled.

" _I think we'll like it here,_ " Lucario said.


	2. N and Ghetsis

"I hate it here," Harry groaned as he looked at the map he had bought from the Poke Mart. Lucario rolled his eyes as he walked beside him, "Lucario, Aura's not equipped with a sense of direction, is it?"

" _Not exactly,_ " Lucario said, " _I can only sense people and Pokemon not locations._ "

"Great," Harry said, "That means we're lost."

" _That's nothing new,_ " Lucario muttered.

"Purrloin," said a voice and the two of them turned as a small, cat-like Pokemon sauntered by. She glanced at Lucario, flicked her tail and stretched slightly before continuing. Harry and Lucario looked at each other.

"What was that about?" Harry asked.

" _No idea,_ " Lucario replied.

"Loin," said the Pokemon and Harry and Lucario saw her waiting for them, flicking her tail casually. Harry took out his Pokedex.

" _Purrloin the Devious Pokemon. Purrloin's cute act is perfect and it likes to trick people and steal their possessions. When angered, it uses its claws to fight back_."

" _I think she wants us to follow her,_ " Lucario muttered.

"The pokedex says Purrloin aren't trustworthy," Harry pointed out. Lucario looked at the Purrloin who winked at him flirtatiously. Pink hearts shot out of her body and touched Lucario, who suddenly had hearts in his eyes, "Oh damn it."

" _Wow she's cute,_ " Lucario said.

"She just used Attract on you," Harry said, "Snap out of it!" Lucario ignored him and followed Purrloin. Harry took out his Poke Ball and recalled him. Purrloin looked hissed at him angrily when Lucario disappeared, "Easy girl." Sharp claws popped out of Purrloin's paws. Harry started to get nervous. Purrloin approached him, flexing her claws threateningly.

"Purrloin likes Lucario," said a voice and Harry jumped as a young man with long green hair approached, "She thinks he's handsome."

"How do you know she's not just pretending to like him?" asked Harry.

"I can hear her thoughts," the man said. Harry blinked in surprised.

"You have Aura?" he asked.

"No," the man replied, "But I can hear Pokemon's voices. My name is N. Not much of a name, I know but it's what everyone calls me."

"I'm Harry," Harry replied.

"You should let Lucario out," N said. Harry opened Lucario's Poke Ball and he reappeared. Purrloin approached and rubbed against him, but didn't bother using Attract again. Lucario seemed slightly uncomfortable but didn't seem to mind, "I don't approve of keeping Pokemon imprisoned."

"Imprisoned?" Harry said, "I know some Pokeon prefer being out of their Poke Balls but they're hardly prisons."

"How would you know that?" asked N, "Have you ever been inside one."

"No," Harry admitted.

"Of course you haven't," N said, "No human has. That's not really fair on Pokemon is it?"

"Don't you have any Pokemon?" Harry asked.

"No," N said, then knelt down and stroked Purrloin, who stopped rubbing against Lucario and instead allowed N to pet her.

"Well does Purrloin know you?" asked Harry.

"Never met her before in my life," N replied promptly, then straightened up, "Where are you headed?"

"Accumula Town," Harry said, "We're a bit lost."

"I can show you the way," N offered.

"Okay," Harry said, "Thank you."

Purrloin watched the two humans and Lucario walk away. Then she started following them at a distance. Lucario was the only one who noticed but he didn't say anything.

* * *

Harry, N and Lucario reached a small town and found a group of people crowding in the town square. The three of them joined the group as a tall, green haired man with voluminous robes stood in front of the citizens.

"Greetings!" announced the man, "My name is Ghetsis and I represent Team Plasma. I am here to talk to you about Pokemon liberation. Many people consider Pokemon to be their partners and friends. Yet we usually keep Pokemon imprisoned in Poke Balls and order them to battle each other for sport. Some believe that Pokemon are merely tools for battle but does anyone consider how the Pokemon feel when they are beating each other senseless? My goal is to liberate Pokemon and I hope that you will consider what I have said here today. I sincerely appreciate your attention."

Ghetsis stepped down and the crowd started to disperse. The people were muttering among themselves. N approached Ghetsis who noticed him and smiled.

"Nice speech, Father," said N.

"Thank you," said Ghetsis then saw Harry and Lucario, "And who might you be, young man?"

"Harry Rowan," Harry replied.

"It's nice to meet you," Ghetsis said, "And your friend too." He nodded to Lucario who watched him warily, "It's nice to see that someone likes to keep his Pokemon outside a Poke Ball."

" _I don't trust him,_ " Lucario told Harry bluntly, forgetting that N could also hear him.

"Why don't you trust him?" N asked innocently. Lucario glanced at him guiltily, having not meant to offend N but the young man just seemed curious.

"Has N told you he hears Pokemon's voices?" asked Ghetsis.

"Yes," Harry said, "I can hear Lucario's voice too."

"You're a telepath?" Ghetsis asked.

"Not really," Harry said, "I can only hear Lucario because of our Aura connection and his Psychic potential. I can't understand other Pokemon in the same way."

"I wish I had that ability," said Ghetsis, "My son here was gifted at talking with Pokemon from the day I adopted him. Probably from the day he was born."

"Ghetsis took me in after I was orphaned," N explained, "I met many Pokemon who were mistreated by humans."

" _Harry doesn't mistreat me,_ " Lucario said, " _I wouldn't have evolved if he did._ "

"Well many other Pokemon are not so lucky," N said.

"I feel slightly out of the loop here," Ghetsis said, "Would you care to tell me what Lucario is saying?"

"He said that if Harry mistreated him, he wouldn't have evolved," N told him.

"Ah," Ghetsis nodded, "Well I've met numerous trainers who aren't as kind. And even those that are still keep Pokemon in Poke Balls and force them into battle."

" _I enjoy battling,_ " Lucario said.

"Lucario enjoys battling," Harry translated.

"Even when he loses?" Ghetsis asked.

" _Yes,_ " Lucario replied and Harry repeated him. N nodded slightly to confirm that Harry was telling the truth.

"Well it seems that Lucario is content," Ghetsis said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to." He strode away and N turned to Harry and Lucario.

"Did you bring me here just to hear that speech?" asked Harry.

"You said you were coming here anyway," N said with a shrug, then glanced over Harry's shoulder, "Oh hello Purrloin." Harry and Lucario turned around as the Purrloin from earlier approached them. She eyed the trio, then sat down, her tail flicking from side to side.

"You followed us," Harry said and Purrloin nodded. She looked at Lucario, "You want to be near Lucario, don't you?" Purrloin nodded then came closer.

Suddenly she jumped at Harry who flinched. Lucario was about to leap to his defense but Purrloin was merely looking for a Poke Ball. Fishing it out of Harry's pocket, she landed with the minituarised ball in her mouth. She dropped it at Harry's feet. Lucario and Harry relaxed.

"Purrloin wants to go in a Poke Ball?" N asked, looking surprised.

"You'd be surprised how many Pokemon actually don't mind them," Harry said, then knelt down, picked up the Poke Ball and made it bigger. Purrloin looked at the Poke Ball curiously.

"She's wondering what being inside one is like," N told Harry.

"Well do you want to find out, Purrloin?" asked Harry. Purrloin shrugged. Harry tossed the ball at her. She allowed it to suck her inside, wobble three times then go still. Harry picked up the Poke Ball.

" _She's going to be hitting on me a lot, isn't she?_ " Lucario said.

"Probably," Harry replied.

"I thought people battled Pokemon before catching them," N said.

"They do usually," Harry replied, "But there's no point in battling if a Pokemon's willing to travel with you."

"I agree," N said, "But I also wonder why Pokemon battle at all."

" _Why do you think we have our powers?_ " Lucario asked, " _Besides I find battling quite exhilarating._ "

"I don't understand why," N muttered, "Well I'll be going now. The Pokemon Center's around the corner if you need a place for the night."

"Thanks for bringing us," Harry said.

"You're welcome," N responded and walked away, deep in thought.

" _He's like a child,_ " Lucario said. When Harry looked at him Lucario elaborated, " _I don't think he's seen many Pokemon who actually like being with their trainers. Ghetsis must have persuaded him that humans are inherently cruel to Pokemon._ "

"Why would he do that?" Harry asked.

" _I'm not sure_ ," Lucario muttered, " _Emotions are easy to read but I'm still getting the hang of reading actual thoughts. Something about Ghetsis reminds me of Cyrus though. He's up to something and I don't think it's good._ "

* * *

The following day, Harry and Lucario set out towards Striaton City. On the way they met a girl, slightly younger than Harry with blonde pig tails.

"Hey!" called the girl when she saw them, "Hello! Could we have a battle please?"

"Sure," Harry said shrugging. It wasn't uncommon for people to just randomly challenge someone as soon as they laid eyes on them.

"Oh hold on," the girl said hastily, "I've only got one Pokemon and it won't be a match for a Lucario. Do you have any other Pokemon?" She looked a bit sheepish about challenging Harry so hastily. Harry and Lucario smiled at her enthusiasm.

"Yes," Harry said, "Go Purrloin!" Purrloin burst out of her Poke Ball and stretched lazily, sticking her tail up in the air.

"Lillipup go!" called the girl and a small, dog like Pokemon appeared. Harry took out his Pokedex.

" _Lillipup the Puppy Pokemon. It faces strong opponents with great courage but when in a fight it knows it cannot win, this intelligent Pokémon flees_."

"Lillipup Take Down!" cried the girl.

"Fake Out!" Harry ordered and Lillipup was about to charge but Purrloin clapped her paws together and shot out a shock wave which caused Lillipup to flinch, "Now use Attract."

"Puurr!" Purrloin purred seductively and pink hearts shot out of her body and landed on Lillipup. The Normal type recovered from Fake Out and looked at Purrloin, unaffected by Attract.

"My Lillipup's a girl," said the girl, "Use Take Down!" Lillipup charged forwards and slammed into Purrloin, knocking her off her feet. Purrloin rolled along the ground and hissed angrily as her fur became dirty. Lillipup winced from Take Down's recoil damage.

"Purrloin use Slash!" Harry ordered and Purrloin extended her claws, lunged towards Lillipup and slashed it as she passed, landing gracefully behind it. Lillipup collapsed and the girl hurried to its side.

"Lillipup are you okay?" she said, concerned. Purrloin started licking her fur to clean herself.

"Good battle, Purrloin," Harry said, then looked at the girl as she recalled her Lillipup.

"I need to get a lot stronger," she said, "Thanks for accepting my challenge though."

"No problem," Harry said, "I only just caught Purrloin so she needs the experience."

"Does Purrloin have a crush on your Lucario?" asked the girl when she noticed that Purrloin had stopped licking herself and was rubbing against Lucario's side.

"Yeah," Harry said, "He fancies her too."

" _Harry!_ " Lucario yelped. Purrloin grinned and continued rubbing against the Aura Pokemon. Lucario was blushing uncomfortably but didn't push her away. Although he wouldn't admit it, he was quite enjoying the attention.

"Don't deny it," Harry said smirking, "She hasn't used Attract on you."

" _Shut up,_ " Lucario growled and made a chopping motion with one hand. Harry knew what that gesture meant so he shut up. When Lucario was a Riolu, he used to use Brick Break on him whenever he was annoyed and now that he'd evolved, Brick Break would hurt even more.

"Well goodbye," Harry said to the girl, "I'm hoping to get to Striaton City before nightfall so we'd better get going."

"Okay," the girl responded, "Bye." She skipped away. Harry recalled Purrloin and he and Lucario continued travelling in the other direction.

 **This story's not as well planned out as Sinnoh, mainly because I'm trying to combine the games with elements of the anime, instead of just doing an anime rewrite like last time. I'm even planning to have Plasma vs Rocket which was originally going to be in the anime but got cancelled. As GarionRiva pointed out, I "took the easy way" whilst writing the last story.** **I'm not sure if the Hilbert, Hilda, Bianca, Cheren, Nate, Rosa and Hugh will appear or if Chimchar will evolve in this arc. What I can say though is that Harry will catch one of the Starter Pokémon and he will most likely have a Hydreigon by the end of the arc.**


	3. Triple Battles

"Well here we are," Harry said as he, Lucario and Purrloin, who did not dislike Poke Balls but liked to be with Lucario, arrived in Striaton City, "Let's find the Pokemon Center."

It didn't take long, which was good because the sun was setting and Harry was tired. Inside the Pokemon Center, they ran into a green haired young man talking to Nurse Joy.

"You're Pansage is fully healed, Cilan," Nurse Joy said.

"Thank you Nurse Joy," said Cilan and took Pansage's Poke Ball. He turned and blinked in astonishment when he saw Lucario, "My goodness! A Lucario!"

"Hello," Harry said, "I'm Harry Rowan."

"My name is Cilan," said the man, "One of the three Striaton City Gym Leaders."

"Three Gym Leaders?" Harry said.

"I run the Striaton Gym with my two brothers," Cilan explained, "We specialize in Triple Battles."

"Triple Battles?" Harry said, "I've never had one of those."

"You have to battle all three of us at once using three of your own Pokemon," Cilan explained.

"I see," Harry replied, "Well could I have a battle with you and your brothers tomorrow?"

"Very well," Cilan said, "But come after 2 PM. My brothers and I serve at our resturaunt until then."

* * *

The following day, Harry called Proffessor Rowan and asked him to transfer one of his Pokemon to him. After receiving the Poke Ball, Harry went into the Pokemon Center's garden. Harry opened the Poke Ball and Chimchar emerged.

"Hello Chimchar," Harry said, kneeling down to her level, "I need your help."

"Chimchar!" said Chimchar happily, then hopped onto his shoulder. She waved to Lucario who smiled and nodded.

"Purrloin, come on out," Harry said and Purrloin emerged from her Poke Ball and stretched lazily. Chimchar tilted her head and hopped down from Harry's shoulder, "Purrloin, this is Chimchar. She's from my home region, Sinnoh. Chimchar this is Purrloin."

"Char," Chimchar said holding out a hand. Purrloin looked at Chimchar for a moment, then reached out with her paw and allowed Chimchar to shake it.

"Okay guys, today's Gym Battle's not going to be like any of our previous Gym Battles," Harry said, "All three of you are going to have to fight together." The trio of Pokemon nodded, "Okay let's do a bit of training before we go. Chimchar use Flamethrower on Lucario and Lucario use Bone Rush to block it."

"Char!" cried Chimchar firing Flamethrower at Lucario, who created a bone and spun it in front of him, deflecting the fire. Chimchar stopped the Flamethrower and Lucario dissipated the bone.

"Well done," Harry said, "Okay Purrloin, shoot a Shadow Ball at me." Purrloin smirked, then formed a Shadow Ball in front of her mouth and fired it at Harry. The attack slammed into Harry's chest and he stumbled but it didn't hurt as much as he expected, "It needs more power. Once you've mastered using one Shadow Ball, I'll train you to fire five at a time."

"Purrloin?" said Purrloin and tilted her head.

" _She's asking if that's possible,_ " Lucario translated.

"Several of my Pokemon back home can do it," Harry said, "But for now, you need to make one Shadow Ball more powerful."

"Purrloin," Purrloin nodded and focussed as she created another Shadow Ball.

* * *

Harry arrived at the Gym as scheduled and met the three Gym Leaders, Cilan, Cress and Chilli.

"Welcome," said Cilan, "These are my brothers, Cress and Chilli."

"I hope you give us an enjoyable battle," Chilli said, "Our last opponent had a very powerful Raichu and beat us, even though he clearly had no previous experience with Triple Battles."

"Cilan considered travelling with him," Cress said.

"Well it's nice to meet you all," Harry said, "I'm Harry and I'm looking forward to our battle."

"Well let's get the battle started while we're fired up," Chilli said, "Come on in."

The three Gym Leaders led Harry to the battle room and stood side by side at the opposite end of the battlefield. Harry stood with Lucario at the other end.

"Let's go, Panpour!" cried Cress and a blue monkey like Pokemon appeared.

"Come on out, Pansear!" cried Chilli and a red monkey like Pokemon emerged.

"Pansage, you're up!" cried Cilan and a green monkey like Pokemon materialized.

" _Pansage the Grass Monkey Pokemon._ _It shares the leaves on its head with weary-looking Pokémon. These leaves are known to relieve stress_."

" _Pansear the High Temp Pokemon. This Pokémon lives in caves in volcanoes. The fire within the tuft on its head can reach 600°F_."

" _Panpour the Spray Pokemon. The water stored inside the tuft on its head is full of nutrients. It waters plants with it using its tail_."

"Lucario, Chimchar, Purrloin battle positions!" Harry called. Lucario bounded forwards and Purrloin and Chimchar appeared on either side of him.

"Are the trainers ready?" said the referee and all four of them nodded, "Then begin!"

"Purrloin Fake Out on Pansage and Chimchar use Flamethrower!" Harry ordered and Purrloin clapped her front paws together and a shock wave slammed into Pansage causing it to flinch. Chimchar then fired a Flamethrower towards the Grass Monkey Pokemon.

"Hydro Pump!" ordered Cress and Panpour leapt between Pansage and the Flamethrower and fired a huge stream of water from its mouth, which easily overpowered Flamethrower and slammed into Chimchar, hurling her into the wall.

"Chimchar!" Harry shouted, "Alright Lucario use Aura Sphere on Panpour!" Lucario formed a blue sphere and hurled it at Panpour.

"Fire Punch, Pansear!" ordered Chilli and Pansear's fist blazed as it leapt forwards and punched the Aura Sphere, sending it flying straight back into Lucario.

"Purrloin use Slash on Pansear!" Harry shouted and Purrloin extended her claws and lunged at Pansear but by now, Pansage had recovered from Fake Out.

"Acrobatics!" ordered Cilan and Pansage shot towards Purrloin, leaving an afterimage behind before slamming into Purrloin before she could reach Pansage.

"Fire Blast!" ordered Chilli and Pansear fired a powerful star of fire which engulfed Purrloin who screamed in pain and collapsed.

"Purrloin is unable to battle!" announced the referee.

"Purrloin return and take a rest," Harry said. Lucario and Chimchar looked at each other, then at their three opponents.

"You're Pokemon need to learn to work together," Cilan told him, "Pansage Solarbeam!" The Gym had an open roof so Pansage was able to absorb sunlight into the bush on its head.

"Chimchar, Flame Wheel on Pansage!" Harry ordered and Chimchar rolled into a Flame Wheel and lunged at Pansage while it was charging the Solarbeam.

"Panpour Hydro Pump!" ordered Cress and Panpour aimed Hydro Pump at Chimchar.

"Lucario Aura Sphere!" ordered Harry and Lucario fired an Aura Sphere at the Hydro Pump, stopping it from reaching Chimchar and allowing her to close in on Pansage.

"Quick Pansear, Acrobatics!" ordered Chilli and Pansear lunged forwards to defend Pansage.

"Aura Sphere!" Harry ordered again and Lucario fired another Aura Sphere. Pansear was just inches away from Chimchar before the Aura Sphere knocked it off course and send it skidding along the ground. Now Chimchar had nothing between her and Pansage and slammed into the Grass Monkey Pokemon, sending it flying. However Pansage managed to endure the attack and fired a Solarbeam from its mouth, which slammed into Chimchar, knocking her off her feet.

"Panpour use Acrobatics!" ordered Cress and Panpour darted towards Chimchar and slammed into her, knocking her out.

"Chimchar is unable to battle!" announced the referee.

"Well done, Chimchar," Harry said and recalled her. Lucario now stood alone against three opponents, "Lucario, Aura Sphere on Panpour and Pansage!" Lucario created an Aura Sphere in each hand and threw them both, one towards Panpour and the other towards Pansage.

"Hydro Pump!" ordered Cress and Panpour blocked one Aura Sphere with Hydro Pump.

"Fire Punch!" ordered Chilli and Pansear jumped in front of Pansage and once again used Fire Punch to send the other Aura Sphere back towards Lucario.

"Force Palm!" Harry ordered and Lucario redeflected the deflected Aura Sphere by thrusting his palm into it and shooting yellow light from it, sending the Aura Sphere flying into Pansear and knocking it into Pansage, sending them both sprawling.

"Panpour use Acrobatics!" ordered Cress and Panpour darted towards Lucario and slammed into him. Lucario was knocked over but rolled onto his feet.

"Quick Attack on Panpour!" Harry ordered and Lucario, having guessed that he should attack Panpour anyway since it was closest, had slammed into the Spray Pokemon before Harry even finished the command.

"Pansear Fire Blast!" ordered Chilli and Pansear fired a star of fire towards Lucario.

"Aura Sphere!" Harry called and Lucario hurled an Aura Sphere at the Fire Blast, creating an explosion, "Now use Quick Attack on Pansage!" The smoke temporarily hid Lucario from the Elemental Monkey's while Lucario's Aura Sight enabled him to see through it easily. He darted forwards and slammed into the surprised Pansage, knocking it out.

"Pansage is unable to battle!"

"Pansage return and take a rest," Cilan said, "Alright brothers, I'll leave this in your hands." He stepped away from the battlefield and stood to the side to watch.

"Double Aura Sphere!" Harry ordered and Lucario formed two Aura Spheres once more, one in his right hand and the other in his left, before hurling them at Pansear and Panpour.

"Fire Blast!"

"Hydro Pump!"

A huge stream of water collided with one Aura Sphere and a fiery star collided with the other, creating two explosions.

"Acrobatics!" Chilli and Cress ordered at the same time and both Pansear and Panspour darted towards Lucario, leaving behind after images before colliding with him several times. Whenever Lucario spun towards one of them, he would get hit by the other attacking from another direction.

"Pansear finish it with Fire Punch!" ordered Chilli triumphantly and Pansear pulled back its fist which blazed with fire, before punching Lucario right in the face and knocking him to the ground. Lucario tried to push himself up, then fainted.

"Lucario is unable to battle and that means the victory goes to the Gym Leaders!" said the referee.

"Lucario, nice work," Harry said and recalled him; although Lucario preferred being outside his Poke Ball, he was not averse to going into it when defeated in battle, "Triple battles are tough."

"Well since they are part of Unova's Pokemon League, we feel it's necessary to provide challengers with some experience of them," Cilan told him.

* * *

While Harry waited for Nurse Joy to finish healing his Pokemon, he heard people mention the Dreamyard on the edge of town. Once Lucario, Purrloin and Chimchar had recovered, he decided to go and check it out. Perhaps it would be a good place to train.

He asked for directions from a young man and he and Lucario left town. On the way to the Dreamyard, Harry nearly ran headlong into a floating pink Pokemon coming from the other direction.

"Munna, Munna!" cried the little creature when it saw them, seeming very upset.

"Whoa calm down," Harry said as the Pokemon jerked its head frantically towards the Dreamyard. Harry grabbed his Pokedex.

" _Munna the Dream Eater Pokemon. It eats the dreams of people and Pokémon. When it eats a pleasant dream, it expels pink-colored Dream Mist._ "

" _Munna needs us to follow him,_ " Lucario said, having already gone on ahead.

The Munna led them to a research facility or what was left of it. It looked as though a bomb had gone off in the area. Lucario scanned around with Aura.

" _Three hostile people, one scared person, three Pokemon which I think are the same species and one Pokemon in pain,_ " Lucario reported swiftly. Harry nodded and they followed Munna into the ruins.

As they got closer they heard squeals and muffled cries. They peered around the side of a wall and saw three people dressed as ninjas watching three identical Pokemon beat up a Pokemon that looked a lot like Munna but with a pink mist like substance flowing from its head. Its attackers had blades instead of hands and and crests resembling the heads of an axes protruding from their skulls.

" _Pawniard the Sharp Blade Pokemon_. _If battling dulls its blades, it sharpens them on stones. Groups attack by sinking their blades into their prey_."

Nearby was a bound and gagged young woman wearing glasses. She was pretty with black hair that was so long that in her sitting position it was splayed across the ground. Her hands were tied behind her back, her feet were tied together and there was a cleave gag in her mouth. She was screaming at the ninjas and their Pokemon but they ignored her.

"Oi!" Harry shouted and the ninjas looked up. Their Pokemon did too as did the tied and gagged woman on the ground.

"Back off boy," said one of the ninjas, "This is none of your business."

"Well I'm making it my business," Harry said, "Who are you anyway?"

"We are the Shadow Triad," said another ninja, "And we need Musharna's Dream Mist."

"So you're just trying to beat it out of it?" Harry said, "You could just ask."

"Where's the fun in that?" asked the third ninja.

"Let's see how you like getting beaten up," Harry said, "Lucario Bone Rush!"

Lucario created an Aura bone and lunged towards the three ninjas who reacted with astonishing agility, leaping incredibly far to avoid Lucario's Bone Rush. Harry hadn't thought the Shadow Triad actually _were_ ninjas, but by the way they moved, he realized that they would probably be dangerous even if they didn't have Pokemon with blades for hands.

"Pawniard Slash!" the Shadow Triad said as one and all three Pawniard lunged at Lucario. Lucario knocked one away, blocked a blow from another then got slashed across the back by the third. Grunting in pain, Lucario dissipated his bone and threw himself into a roll in order to get out from between the three Pawniard.

"Aura Sphere on all three!" Harry ordered and Lucario formed an Aura Sphere in each hand and knocked out two of the Pawniard before creating a third Aura Sphere and knocking out the third.

" _That wasn't so hard,_ " Lucario grunted as the Shadow Triad recalled their defeated Pokemon.

"These Pokemon won't be so easy," said the tallest member of the Shadow Triad whom Harry assumed was the leader, "Absol come forth!" A white furred Pokemon with a black face and a scythe like horn on its head appeared.

"Excavalier lets go!" A Pokemon that resembled a knight in shining armour with a pair of lances for arms appeared.

"Accelgor come on out!" A Pokemon that had a vague resemblance to Excavalier but with actual arms and hands instead of lances, a red head and no armour appeared.

"Chimchar, Purrloin battle positions!" Harry called and Chimchar and Purrloin appeared on either side of Lucario, "Purrloin Fake Out on Absol and Lucario use Aura Sphere!"

"Loin!" cried Purrloin clapping her paws and causing Absol to flinch from the shock wave while Lucario formed an Aura Sphere and hurled it at the Disaster Pokemon.

"Excavalier Protect Absol!" ordered the ninja on the left and Excavalier rushed between Absol and the Aura Sphere and created a blue barrier, blocking the attack.

"Accelgor use Focus Blast on Lucario!" ordered the ninja on the right and Accelgor formed a yellow orb of energy between its hands and hurled it at Lucario, knocking him off his feet.

"Chimchar Flame Wheel on Accelgor!" Harry ordered and Chimchar rolled towards Accelgor. However Accelgor moved with incredible speed, shooting away from Chimchar and darting towards Purrloin. The Devious Pokemon barely had time to blink before Accelgor was in front of her.

"Bug Buzz!" ordered the right ninja and Accelgor shot sound waves out of its body at point blank range, knocking Purrloin out with a single attack.

"Bloody hell that was fast!" Harry yelped. He wasn't in a habit of swearing but Accelgor's speed had caught him completely off guard.

"You don't know much about Accelgor do you?" the right ninja said smugly.

"Excavalier use Twineedle on Chimchar!" ordered the left ninja and Excavalier lunged at Chimchar and started jabbing at her with its lances. Chimchar quickly dodged them but Accelgor darted behind her to block her escape.

"Lucario Quick Attack on Accelgor!" Harry shouted.

"Absol Aerial Ace!" cried the middle ninja. Lucario managed to reach Accelgor first and knock it away from Chimchar but then got hit by an Aerial Ace from Absol, "Night Slash on Chimchar!" Absol turned towards Chimchar and its scythe like horn glowed purple as it slashed her, knocking her off her feet.

"Excavalier Giga Impact!" Excavalier formed a purple and yellow cocoon around its body and lunged towards Chimchar, smashing into her and sending her flying into one of the still standing walls. She landed beside the woman who was still struggling against her bonds.

"Damn," Harry muttered. Triple battles were a lot harder than fighting opponents one at a time.

"Absol use Psycho Cut!" ordered Absol's trainer and Absol's scythe glowed pink and it swung its head, shooting a pink blade of Psychic energy at Lucario. The Psycho Cut knocked Lucario off his feet.

"Focus Blast Accelgor!" ordered Accelgor's trainer and Accelgor hurled a yellow orb at Lucario. At that moment however Munna darted between them and created a yellow screen of light. Light Screen blocked the Focus Blast and Munna then shot a Psybeam towards the surprised Accelgor, knocking it straight into Excavalier.

"Thank's Munna," said Harry then noticed Masharna use Psychic to lift both Accelgor and Excavalier into the air. Harry was impressed that it was able to control both Pokemon simultaneously. Musharna smashed the two Bugs together then slammed Accelgor onto the ground before crashing Excavalier's hard Steel body on top of it, "Nice Psychic attack Musharna. Lucario Bone Rush on both of them."

"Car," Lucario said; although he could speak to Harry telepathically his actual voice sounded like that of a normal Lucario. He created a bone from Aura, lunged towards the stunned Accelgor and Excavalier and started beating the hell out of them.

"Absol use Aerial Ace!" yelled the leader of the Shadow Triad and Absol lunged towards Lucario, surrounding himself with white streaks and slamming into the Aura Pokemon, knocking him off his feet. By now Accelgor was unconscious and Excavalier was swaying slightly, as if about to faint.

Munna shot another Psybeam at Excavalier. Normally Harry wouldn't approve of a sneak attack but he wanted to get rid of the Shadow Triad so he nodded at Munna as Excavalier was knocked out.

Harry could only see the Shadow Triad members eyes because of the masks they wore and said eyes were filled with frustration. Munna and Musharna's Psychic attacks would have no effect on Absol but Lucario had a considerable advantage over the Dark type.

"Use Psycho Cut!" snarled the Shadow Triad leader and Absol shot another pink energy blade from its scythe like horn.

"Aura Sphere!" Harry shouted and Lucario hurled an Aura Sphere which collided with Psycho Cut and created an explosion, "Quick Attack!" Lucario darted forwards and slammed into Absol, knocking it off its feet. Absol rolled over and glared at Lucario angrily.

Then a red beam hit Absol and it disappeared into its Poke Ball. Harry and Lucario looked at the Shadow Triad leader in surprise.

"You got lucky this time, boy," he said and the three ninjas made incredible leaps, landed on top of a wall and disappeared. Harry hurried over to the scientist on the floor and removed her gag.

"Are you okay, Miss?" he asked.

"I'm fine and call me Fennel," the woman replied, "Thank you but I'm more worried about Musharna." Harry untied her and she went over to Musharna, "Are you alright, Musharna?"

"Mushar," said Musharna and nuzzled her before turning to Munna. Harry took out his pokedex.

" _Musharna the Drowzing Pokemon. The mist emanating from their foreheads is packed with the dreams of people and Pokémon_."

Harry put away his pokedex and smiled slightly as the two Pokemon nuzzled each other. His smile turned into a frown as he remembered that the Shadow Triad had been beating him before the two Psychic types intervened. He really needed to experience more triple battles.

* * *

After Fennel had gone home with Munna and Musharna, Harry spent the night in the Dreamyard. It was uncomfortable but during his journey through Sinnoh, Harry had grown used to sleeping rough. The following day Harry and his Pokemon spent the morning training.

"Shadow Ball," Harry called and Purrloin fired a Shadow Ball which hit Harry right in the chest, knocking him off his feet and leaving a burning sensation where it had hit. Harry sat up and rubbed his chest, "Well done. You've got the hang of using one Shadow Ball."

"Purr," said Purrloin happily and the two of them turned towards Chimchar and Lucario. Lucario was trying to hit Chimchar with Bone Rush while she dodged and sometimes struck back with Acrobatics.

"Okay that's enough," Harry called. Lucario made one last thrust at Chimchar but the bone passed through her after-image and Chimchar bounced off his head and made a huge leap, further than Harry had ever seen her leap before, which was quite an accomplishment. Chimchar's legs had obviously developed a considerable amount of strength. She landed on Harry's shoulder while Lucario dissipated his bone. "Good work all of you. Let's go and see what the Gym Leaders' restaurant is like."

* * *

Harry and his Pokemon returned to Striaton City. Harry assumed that the brothers would be serving in their resturaunt until the afternoon like before. He was right.

"Hello," Harry said as Cress met him at the door.

"Good day," Cress replied, "Follow me." He led Harry and Lucario to a table. Harry noticed that almost every other person in the restaurant had at least one Pokemon with them, so he let out Chimchar and Purrloin, "What would you like?"

"A rematch," Harry said, "And some vegetable soup, some Pokemon food for Lucario and Purrloin and a couple of bananas for Chimchar."

"Coming up," Cress said, "And your challenge is accepted." He walked away.

Chilli was the one who served Harry and his Pokemon their food. Whilst doing so he said; "I hope you provide us with a greater challenge this time."

"I will," Harry guaranteed then he and his Pokemon tucked in.

* * *

After lunch Harry and the three Gym Leaders went to the gym. Like before Harry and Lucario stood on one side of the battlefield while Cilan, Cress and Chilli stood on the other.

"Go Pansage!" cried Cilan and the green monkey appeared.

"Go Pansear!" shouted Chilli and the red monkey emerged.

"Go Panpour!" called Cress and the blue monkey materialized.

"Lucario, Purrloin and Chimchar battle positions!" Harry yelled and released Purrloin and Chimchar while Lucario jumped into position between them, "Purrloin Fake Out on Panpour and Chimchar Flamethrower on Pansage!" Purrloin clapped her paws and the resulting shock wave caused Panpour to flinch while Chimchar fired a Flamethrower at Pansage.

"Pansage Dig!" ordered Cilan and Pansage dug rapidly into the ground to avoid Flamethrower.

"Lucario, you know what to do," Harry said. Lucario nodded and closed his eyes. The four black appendages on the back of his head rose as he searched for Pansage's Aura, "Purrloin Attract on Panpour!"

"Purr," said Purrloin and winked at Panpour, causing pink hearts to shoot out of her body and land on the Spray Pokemon, infatuating him.

"Fire Blast on Lucario!" ordered Cress and Pansear fired a star of fire at Lucario while he was searching for Pansage.

"Chimchar intercept with Flame Wheel!" Harry ordered and Chimchar rolled into the Fire Blast in a wheel of fire, using Pansear's attack to increase Flame Wheel's power. She slammed into the High Temp Pokemon and knocked it off its feet.

"Pan!" cried Pansage as it appeared underneath Lucario but the Aura Pokemon stepped lazily aside.

"Force Palm!" Harry ordered and Lucario slammed his palm into Pansage and blasted out yellow energy, sending the Grass Monkey Pokemon flying into the wall. Chimchar leapt back to join Lucario and Purrloin. Pansear and Pansage picked themselves up while Panpour was still drooling over Purrloin, "Purrloin use Shadow Ball on Panpour!"

"Loin!" cried Purrloin forming a Shadow Ball in front of her mouth and firing it at Panpour who just watched the Shadow Ball shooting towards him.

"Fire Punch!" ordered Chilli and Pansear leapt between Panpour and the Shadow Ball before punching the ball with a flaming fist and sending it back towards Purrloin.

"Bone Rush!" Harry ordered and Lucario created a bone and wielded it like a baseball bat just as Jeremy's Marowak had done. After knocking the Shadow Ball back into Pansear, Lucario lunged and started beating the hell out of both Pansear and Panpour.

"Pansage Acrobatics!" yelled Cilan and Pansage lunged at Lucario and slammed into him with Acrobatics, knocking him away from the two other monkeys.

"Pansear use Fire Punch!" ordered Chilli and Pansear nailed Lucario with a super effective Fire Punch.

"Panpour Hydro Pump!" ordered Cress and Panpour, who wasn't staring at Purrloin at the moment and therefore was fully aware of what his trainer had said, fired a stream of water. Lucario crashed to the ground and groaned before pushing himself up on his elbows.

"Pansear finish it with Fire Punch!" ordered Chilli and Pansear lunged towards Lucario.

"Acrobatics!" Harry called and Chimchar intercepted Pansear in midair, knocking him away from Lucario.

"Hydro Pump!" cried Cress and Panpour blasted Chimchar with a super effective Hydro Pump. By now however Lucario was back on his feet.

"Chimchar Slack Off!" ordered Harry and Chimchar lay down, glowed white and restored her energy.

"Pansage Solarbeam!" ordered Cilan and Pansage began absorbing light, staying away from the other Pokemon and counting on Pansear and Panpour to protect him.

"Hydro Pump!" ordered Cress again and Panpour tried to aim Hydro Pump at Chimchar but Lucario was standing in the way.

"Aura Sphere!" Harry ordered and Lucario blocked Hydro Pump with Aura Sphere, allowing Chimchar to finish healing, "Lucario Quick Attack and Purrloin use Slash!" Lucario darted forwards and slammed into Panpour. Purrloin then leapt towards the Spray Pokemon and Slashed him before he even hit the ground. When Panpour did hit the ground, he didn't get up.

"Aim at Purrloin!" ordeed Cilan and Harry realised too late that Purrloin was now an easy target for Pansage's Solarbeam. The yellow beam slammed into her and sent her flying. The referee examined Purrloin and Panpour.

"Purrloin and Panpour are both unable to battle!"

"You've improved," Cress said as he recalled Panpour and stepped to the side of the battlefield.

"Thanks," Harry said, "And thank you too, Purrloin." He recalled her and looked at the four remaining Pokemon on the battlefield. "Lucario double Aura Sphere!" Lucario formed an Aura Sphere in each hand and hurled them both at Pansage and Pansear.

"Fire Blast!" ordered Chilli and Pansear's Fire Blast successfully blocked one Aura Sphere.

"Bullet Seed!" cried Cilan and Pansage shot out a spray of hard seeds but the other Aura Sphere barely even slowed down. Pansage was knocked off his feet by the attack.

"A weak move like Bullet Seed is no match for my Lucario's Aura Sphere," Harry said smugly, "Chimchar Flame Wheel on Pansage!"

"Pansear Acrobatics on Chimchar!" Chilli tried to counter.

"Lucario Aura Sphere on Pansear!" Harry ordered having expected Chilli to try that. Pansear lunged to intercept Chimchar as she rolled towards Pansage but Lucario's Aura Sphere locked onto his Aura and hit him in midair before he could reach her. Chimchar then slammed into Pansage with Flame Wheel, knocking him out.

"Pansage is unable to battle!"

"Pansage return and take a rest," said Cilan and went to join Cress. Pansear looked from Chimchar to Lucario nervously.

"Pansear use Fire Blast on Lucario!" ordered Chilli and Pansear fired a star at Lucario who didn't even bother to move.

"Flame Wheel!" ordered Harry and Chimchar intercepted Fire Blast just like before and used it to increase the power of her Flame Wheel.

"Acrobatics!" ordered Chilli and Chimchar passed through one of Pansear's after-images and the High Temp Pokemon landed on her back a split second later, "Now go for Lucario!" Still using Acrobatics, Pansear lunged towards Lucario.

"Dodge it!" ordered Harry and Lucario hastily stepped aside, "Force Palm!"

"Use Fire Punch!" Chilli ordered and Pansear somersaulted onto his feet before spinning around as Lucario thrust his palm towards him. Fire Punch and Force Palm collided and there was an explosion which knocked both Pokemon off their feet.

"Lucario and Pansear are both unable to battle!" announced the referee, "However Chimchar is still standing which makes Harry Rowan the winner!"

"Way to go!" Harry said and hurried onto the battlefield. Chimchar leapt onto his shoulder and Harry knelt beside Lucario who sat up and rubbed his head.

" _Did we win?_ " Lucario asked.

"Yeah we won," Harry said with a smile. He helped Lucario to his feet as the three Gym Leaders approached.

"Congratulations," said Cilan.

"That was an excellent battle," added Cress.

"You've earned the Tri Badge," finished Chilli and held out the badge.

"Thank you," Harry said and took the first badge he had earned in the Unova region.


	4. Travelling to Nacrene City

**A Christmas present for both Harry and my readers.**

Harry decided to keep Chimchar with him at least until he reached Nacrene City, where he would have his second Gym battle. The Chimp Pokemon was pleased to stay with her trainer, who always made sure she had plenty of bananas.

Harry was eating with his three Pokemon in a clearing in the forest. Purrloin was lapping water from a nearby stream, Lucario was eating Pokemon food and Chimchar was in a tree peeling a banana.

Chimchar was the first to notice the grass rustling nearby. She paused halfway through her banana. The rustling stopped as a Snivy appeared, casually going to the stream for a drink and completely ignoring Harry and his Pokemon.

"A Snivy," Harry said and stood up. The Snivy didn't acknowledge him as she drank, "Hey Snivy!" Snivy ignored him, "You could at least acknowledge that we're here you know!" Snivy finally finished her drink and walked away, not even sparing them a glance.

" _Well that was rude,_ " Lucario said.

"Yeah," Harry said then grinned excitedly, "But what are the chances of us running into another wild Snivy?" Lucario smiled.

" _Let's go then,_ " he said. Chimchar jumped down into Harry's shoulder. Purrloin was more interested in cleaning her fur than chasing Snivy so Harry recalled her before they set off.

Lucario was able to track Snivy easily with Aura so they soon found her snoozing. Harry hesitated, feeling it wouldn't be fair to just throw a Poke Ball without giving Snivy a fighting chance. Chimchar jumped off his shoulder and approached the sleeping Pokemon.

"Chimchar," she said and shook Snivy. Snivy grunted then a vine extended from her collar and she flicked Chimchar away. Chimchar frowned then turned her flaming backside towards the Grass type. Snivy woke up and hurriedly rolled away from the heat before glaring at Chimchar.

"Sorry," Harry said, "But it wouldn't be fair to catch you while you're asleep."

"Snivy," said Snivy coldly. She waved an arm at them in an obvious "Go away" gesture.

"I'm not a guy who lets opportunities like this pass me by," Harry said, "You seem pretty sure of yourself so let's see how strong you are." Snivy looked at him, then finally smirked and gestured at Chimchar, "You wanna battle Chimchar? Fine with me. Use Flame Wheel!"

"Chimchar!" cried Chimchar and rolled towards Snivy in a wheel of fire. Snivy reacted with amazing speed, leaping away before turning in midair and creating a Leaf Storm around her body. Chimchar turned whilst still in her Flame Wheel and rolled straight into the Leaf Storm. To Harry's surprise Chimchar's Flame Wheel alone wasn't strong enough to power through the Grass type move – he should probably have told her to use Counter Shield, a technique she had learned in Sinnoh – and although Flame Wheel burned up the leaves and minimized the damage, the force behind the attack was still enough to stop Chimchar in her tracks. She landed on the ground, looking as surprised as Harry was that Flame Wheel had been countered with a Grass type move.

"Snivy!" cried Snivy, diving through the smoke the collision of Flame Wheel and Leaf Storm had left behind and then somersaulting as her tail glowed green. Obviously she had only used Leaf Storm to slow Chimchar down. She slashed the Leaf Blade attack directly onto Chimchar's head and the Chimp Pokemon yelped in pain from the Critical Hit as she was knocked to the ground.

" _This Snivy's pretty strong_ ," Lucario said, impressed.

"All the more reason to catch it," Harry responded. Snivy tilted her head curiously, unable to hear what Lucario had said, then her eyes glowed red and a red aura surrounded Chimchar. The Chimp Pokemon's muscles seized up and she struggled to move, "Glare huh? No problem Chimchar, just use Façade!"

"Char!" cried Chimchar and her body glowed golden before she threw herself into Snivy, knocking her off her feet. Snivy rolled over and quickly recovered but nodded approvingly as she stood up again. Then she extended two green vines from her collar and slammed them into Chimchar, who could neither defend herself nor dodge as the paralysis caused by Glare kicked in.

"Chimchar Façade!" Harry cried and Chimchar tried another Façade but this time Snivy was expecting it. She stepped aside and swung a Leaf Blade into Chimchar's side, sending her sprawling, "Alright then Flamethrower!" Chimchar fired a stream of flames from her mouth and Snivy screamed in pain. Once Chimchar stopped her Flamethrower, Harry threw a Poke Ball which sucked Snivy inside. Harry, Lucario and Chimchar waited.

Then Snivy burst out of the Poke Ball. Flamethrower had obviously hurt but she wasn't beaten yet. She summoned another Leaf Storm, which would normally be weaker when used more than once in the same battle, but Harry, Lucario and Chimchar realized that when she went in the Poke Ball, Leaf Storms power had been restored. Normally a wild Pokemon would have to wait at least an hour without battling before Leaf Storm would be back to full strength. The Leaf Storm knocked Chimchar off her feet and Snivy lunged after her, preparing another Leaf Blade.

"Chimchar Acrobatics!" Harry ordered and Chimchar tried to obey but then the paralysis kicked in again and Snivy's Leaf Blade landed, "In that case Vaccuum Wave!" Chimchar was getting tired, despite the fact that Grass type moves weren't very effective against Fire types, but she was still able to jump and spin in the air, causing wind to surround her before shooting a shock wave from the wind straight at Snivy. The shock wave sent Snivy sprawling and Harry threw a Poke Ball once more.

This time Snivy stayed inside. Once the ball stopped shaking, Harry picked it up then turned to his Pokemon.

"Good job Chimchar," he said. Chimchar tried to jump on his shoulder but the paralysis stopped her from moving. Harry took a Full Heal out of his bag and sprayed her with it. Chimchar smiled as she regained full control of her muscles. Then she jumped on Harry's shoulder. "Do you want to ride on my shoulder for a while?"

"Chimchar," Chimchar replied and nodded.

"Okay," Harry said, "You've earned it."

* * *

The sun was setting when Harry reached a small house with a large garden. In the garden were a group of Pokemon of varying species. There was also a small preschool house right next door with a large playground.

"Char," said Chimchar eagerly and jumped off Harry's shoulder and ran into the playground, before bounding onto the climbing frame.

"Oi, Chimchar!" Harry shouted, "That's someone else's property!" Chimchar swung around the climbing frame, having the time of her life. Harry and Lucario looked at each other and sighed before hesitantly entering the playground. It was after school time so the place was deserted but it still didn't feel right to just wander in.

"Excuse me?" said a young woman's voice and a brunette girl with blue eyes appeared from the school house, "What are you doing in my playground?"

"Sorry," Harry said, "Chimchar got a bit overexcited about the climbing frame." The girl looked at Chimchar, then at Lucario.

"A Chimchar and Lucario?" she said, "I've never seen these two Pokemon in real life before. Where did you find them?"

"My grandfather found Lucario when he was a Riolu," Harry said, "I found Chimchar stealing bananas in Oreburg City back in the Sinnoh region. She's not very respectful of people's property." He took out Chimchar's Poke Ball and recalled her, "Sorry about that. I'll get going."

"Hold on," said the girl, "It's getting late. Do you have anywhere to stay tonight?"

"No but I'm used to sleeping rough," Harry said.

"Well I see no reason why you should tonight," the girl said, "How about you stay with me and my grandmother tonight?"

"Are you sure?" Harry said.

"Of course," replied the girl, "I wouldn't make the offer if I wasn't. My name's Daniella by the way."

"I'm Harry," Harry replied, "And thank you."

* * *

Daniela's grandmother Karena wasn't as good a cook as Cilan, Cress and Chilli but still cooked up a great meal. After supper, Harry decided to let his Pokemon sleep outside with the other Pokemon the two women were taking care of. Karena gave him the guest room and Harry quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Outside a small group of people in black clothes approached the garden. Most of the Pokemon were asleep but Harry's Snivy was still awake and staring up at the stars, so she was the first to notice the intruders.

Surprisingly the group, although stealthy, did not show signs of aggression. They merely opened the gate and gestured to Snivy. She cocked her head curiously.

"Wake the others," whispered one of the intruders. It was a woman, "We can sneak you all out of here before your captors are any the wiser."

Snivy paused. She had only just been captured and while Harry hadn't shown any signs of being a nasty person, Snivy had preferred being in the wild. She turned to a Deerling who was sleeping nearby and shook it. Deerling woke up and looked nervously at the intruders.

"Snivy," said Snivy, explaining that they were here to free them. The Deerling shook its head and backed away from the intruders.

"It's okay," said the woman, "Don't you want to be free?" Deerling shook its head. Snivy didn't quite understand its way of thinking, so she went to a Blitzle and shook it awake too. Like Deerling, Blitzle didn't seem eager to leave.

Snivy eventually reached Harry's other Pokemon, who were all sleeping together. Purrloin was curled up beside Lucario. Snivy had only just joined Harry's team but anyone could see that Purrloin fancied the Aura Pokemon.

* * *

" _Harry._ " Harry thought he was dreaming at first. " _Harry wake up! We have intruders! Harry!_ " Eventually Harry realized Lucario was talking to him telepathically. A moment later there was an explosion outside. Harry rushed to the window and looked out.

Lucario, Purrloin and Chimchar were all fighting a group of Pokemon who were being commanded by thugs in dark clothing. Harry looked around for Snivy but the Grass Snake Pokemon appeared to have vanished. A few of the other Pokemon in the day care center were also battling but most were hiding.

"What the hell are you doing?" Harry yelled at the thugs who all looked up. Something about them reminded Harry of the Shadow Triad. They were dressed in a similar way but didn't move like ninjas.

"Damn it," grunted one of the intruders, "Alright Galvantula use Electroweb!" A yellow, spider like Pokemon shot a stream of yellow electricity into the air. As it flew through the air, the tip opened up and expanded, forming into a large spider web of electricity. The web landed on Chimchar and electrocuted her, causing her to scream in pain.

"Chimchar!" Harry shouted, then actually jumped out of the window. He'd heard from Ash that Team Rocket always survived being "blasted off", even if they were literally blown miles into the air, so simply falling from a two story window shouldn't hurt too much. Either Team Rocket had superhuman endurance or always had something to soften their landing, because Harry's relatively short fall still had a painful landing. Ignoring the pain in his legs he ran over to Chimchar. A moment later, Purrloin landed nearby, screaming in pain from the Electroweb that pinned her to the ground. Harry tried to pull off the Electroweb trapping Chimchar but instantly got electrocuted.

"These Pokemon are coming with us!" yelled the female leader, "They shouldn't be with humans!"

"Filthy hypocrite!" Harry shouted, "What about your Pokemon?"

"We're only using them until all other Pokemon are free," said a man.

"Well you can start by letting Chimchar and Purrloin out of the Electroweb!" Harry snapped. The door of the house burst open and Daniela and Karena rushed out.

"Get out of here you thieves!" bellowed Karena throwing a Poke Ball, "Go Stoutland!" A large dog like Pokemon appeared.

"Scolipede use Double-Edge!" ordered one of the thugs and a huge centipede like Pokemon glowed gold and lunged at Stoutland.

"Giga Impact!" bellowed Karena and Stoutland surrounded itself with purple and yellow energy before slamming into Scolipede, overpowering it and sending it crashing to the ground, knocking it out.

"Chimchar use Flame Wheel to burn off the Electroweb," Harry said and Chimchar managed to curl up inside the Electroweb before surrounding her body with flames and burning it away, "Purrloin Slash!" Purrloin extended her claws and managed to Slash her way out of the Electroweb. Her fur was standing on end. Harry looked at Lucario who was protecting the weaker Pokemon from a Scrafty, using Bone Rush to keep it at bay. Harry looked around once again for Snivy, "What have you done with my Snivy!"

"We haven't done anything," said the woman, "Snivy evidently didn't like you. It left of its own accord."

"She," Harry said quietly, "My Snivy's female."

"Well she's not your Snivy anymore," sneered the woman.

"Go Trubbish!" shouted Daniela and a Pokemon that looked like a garbage bag appeared, "Get rid of these intruders!" Trubbish went towards the intruders, opened its mouth and belched out a foul smelling gas. The intruders covered their noses. Most of their Pokemon also backed off. Only the Poison types, which consisted of a second Scolipede and an Amoongus, were completely unbothered by the smell. Even Lucario, who was immune to Poison type moves, wrinkled his nose slightly, although it seemed just mildly unpleasant to him, whereas to everyone else it was one of the smelliest things they had ever smelled. And Harry had smelled Ash's Muk.

"Bloody hell that stinks!" Harry said, almost choking on the smell.

"Scolipede use Rock Slide on that Trubbish!" choked one of the intruders and Scolipede's body glowed white and multiple white rings of energy appeared above Trubbish. Then, several large grey boulders fell from the ripples of energy towards Trubbish.

"Lucario protect Trubbish!" Harry ordered and Lucario clobbered Scrafty over the head with Bone Rush and knocked it out before leaping towards Trubbish and twirling the bone, smashing as many of the rocks as he could.

"Stoutland use Roar!" ordered Karena and Stoutland let out a loud Roar and its body became outlined in red energy as it released invisible circles from its mouth. Scolipede disappeared into its Poké Ball. Trubbish then belched out even more stinky gas. By now the intruders were backing away.

"Let's go," decided the leader, "This mission has failed." She glared at Harry, "You'll regret messing with Team Plasma." With that she and the others recalled their remaining Pokemon and ran away.

"Team Plasma?" Harry mumbled then remembered the mysterious Ghetsis, "Wasn't that the group Ghetsis was representing?"

" _I knew there was something wrong about him,_ " Lucario grunted.

"Deerling," Daniela said to the three Deerling who lived at the day care, "Use Aromatherapy." All three Deerling obeyed and the flower each of their heads glowed bright gold, releasing a sparkling green-yellow powder which spread around the garden. Trubbish's stink faded away and everyone relaxed. Then Harry remembered Snivy.

"Lucario we should find Snivy," he said.

" _Team Plasma weren't lying,_ " Lucario said sadly, " _Snivy did just leave._ "

"Do you think she'll come back?" Harry asked with a hint of desperation.

" _I don't know,_ " Lucario replied.

* * *

Snivy slept in a cave and when she woke the next morning, she went about her every day life. However she felt a bit guilty for just leaving, even though she hadn't wanted to be captured in the first place and Harry hadn't really proven to her that he was worthy of being her trainer. Snivy used Vine Whip to grab an apple, then sat down to eat it.

Snivy looked up as a Braviary flew overhead. The Braviary noticed her and dove towards her, talons outstretched. Snivy Glared at him and the Braviary's muscles became paralyzed. He struggled to maintain flight and squarked in frustration when his muscles refused to cooperate. Snivy watched calmly, still eating her apple, as the Braviary plummeted to the ground. Snivy finished her apple, stood up and walked calmly past Braviary, who managed to stand up but couldn't get his wings to cooperate and therefore couldn't fly.

Snivy continued to explore the rocky area. One of her favourite ways of passing time, aside from battle training, was exploring any area she arrived in. She liked the different landscapes. It struck her that she would probably see a lot of new landscapes if she had stayed with her trainer. And Pokemon usually got involved in battles when with a human. She shrugged off those thoughts and went to a lake for a drink.

After drinking her fill, Snivy turned away from the lake and found herself face to face with a small group of Pawniard. Behind the pack was a single Bisharp.

The Bisharp looked hungry.

One Braviary wasn't too much of a problem. A whole pack of Pawniard as well as a Bisharp was another matter entirely. Snivy wasn't even a large Pokemon so she would probably only be able to feed the Bisharp, but if a Bisharp wanted to eat a Pokemon, its Pawniard followers would attack whether they were hungry or not.

"Sharp," Bisharp said pointing at Snivy and the Pawniard all lunged at her. Snivy knocked away two of the Pawniard with Vine Whip then yelped in pain as another sliced through the vines. She hastily spun around and knocked the Pawniard away with Leaf Blade before summoning a Leaf Storm around her body. The Pawniard quickly sliced their way through the leaves but Snivy had jumped above them and used Vine Whip to reach for a tree branch.

Then the Bisharp got involved, jumping and seizing both of Snivy's vines in its hands before yanking her towards it. Snivy quickly twisted and slammed a Leaf Blade into the Bisharp but it shrugged off the blow and then slammed a Brick Break on Snivy's head. Snivy fell to the ground, stunned.

"SNIVY!" Snivy screamed in agony as one of the Pawniard stabbed her tail, cutting right through the leaf and nailing it to the ground. Snivy tried not to cry from agony. The other Pawniard surrounded her, claws glinting wickedly. Bisharp smirked sadistically as it approached.

Then an Aura Sphere came flying out of the trees and smashed into the Bisharp, sending it flying. The Pawniard all turned as Lucario exploded out of the foliage, twirling a bone made from Aura. Harry was right behind him and rushed to Snivy while Lucario dealt with the Pawniard.

"Snivy are you…?" Harry saw the hole in Snivy's tail, "Oh bloody hell!" He picked her up as gently as he could. The Pawniard started to flee, leaving the Bisharp behind. Bisharp struggled to its feet but Aura Sphere had done a lot of damage. Lucario glared at the Sword Blade Pokemon. Bisharp scowled, then turned and fled.

" _Coward,_ " Lucario growled, dissipating the bone before turning to Harry and Snivy, " _Is she alright?_ "

"She's got a freaking hole in her tail!" Harry snapped, "Of course she's not alright! We need to get back to the daycare." He took out his portable bike and unfolded it. Unfortunately it didn't come with a basket and Harry couldn't ride whilst holding Snivy at the same time, "Snivy I'm gonna get you help. Just hang in there." He took out her Poke Ball and recalled her before jumping onto the bike and riding as fast as he could back towards the daycare. Lucario ran after him.

* * *

Snivy woke up on perhaps the most comfortable surface she had ever laid upon. Her tail was bandaged and Harry and Lucario were sitting beside her. Snivy looked up at them.

"How are you feeling?" asked Harry. Snivy twitched her tail and winced.

"Vy," she mumbled.

" _She says she's fine,_ " Lucario said, " _Although obviously her tail still hurts._ "

"Snivy shouldn't use Leaf Blade for at least a week," said Karena as she and Daniela entered the room, "Her tail will mend but I advise you not to let her fight at all until it's healed."

"Okay," Harry said, "Thank you."

"Don't thank us," Karena said, "We're just doing what anyone running a daycare would do."

"Here Snivy," said Daniela and gave the Grass Snake Pokemon a Sitrus Berry. Snivy smiled gratefully. Daniela and Karena left the room.

"Snivy," Harry said, "Once you've recovered, you can leave if you want." Snivy looked at him for a moment. She wasn't entirely sure why she'd left in the first place. Maybe she just wanted to remain independent but Harry and Lucario had saved her life.

"Snivy," she said, "Sni, Snivy, vy."

" _She says she'll stay,_ " Lucario translated.

"Do you want to?" Harry asked Snivy, "Or do you feel you have to?"

Snivy considered the question. It might take a while to get used to being with a human but Harry seemed like a good person. Snivy knew a lot of trainers would be desperate to have a Pokemon like her on their team and would probably try and force her to stay with them, but Harry was offering to let her go if she didn't like him. Even Poke Balls created a pleasant, albeit fake and slightly small environment for her to live in when not in the real world. Also Snivy liked travelling and battling and if she stayed with Harry, she'd be doing both.

"Snivy," she said.

" _She wants to,_ " Lucario said.

"Then why did you leave?" Harry asked.

"Snivy," Snivy muttered, "Sni, Snivy, Snivy, Sni."

" _She's used to being alone,_ " Lucario said, " _She's not had much interaction with humans._ "

"Well hopefully you'll get used to being with me," Harry said. Snivy nodded and smiled.

 **Merry Christmas and thanks for reading. I should warn you that updates are likely to be slow from now on because I'm suffering from writers block.**


	5. Gym Leaders in Nacrene City

**Happy New Year!**

During the journey to Nacrene City, Harry frequently checked Snivy's tail to make sure it was healing properly. As Karena had advised, he refused to let Snivy battle, even when she wanted to. Snivy was both annoyed and touched by Harry's concern for her.

Harry reached Nacrene City at lunch time three days after Snivy was wounded. He went to a restaurant for lunch but unlike in Striaton City, this restaurant refused to serve Pokemon. Harry and Lucario left in a huff.

" _Bastard,_ " Lucario muttered as the owner was about to close the door. The owner paused and looked around in confusion. Harry noticed.

"I think he heard you," he muttered, nodding towards the man.

" _Really?_ " Lucario looked back at the man who was trying to identify the source of the telepathic voice. After a moment, the man shrugged and went back into his restaurant.

"Either he has Aura or Psychic abilities or you're telepathic powers are getting better," Harry said.

Harry and Lucario ate with Chimchar, Purrloin and Snivy in the town square. When they finished, Harry did some training with Purrloin who was trying to fire five Shadow Balls in quick succession. At the moment she always needed to pause for a second between forming each Shadow Ball.

"Your Purrloin's working hard," said a voice and Harry saw a plump, green haired middle aged woman approaching with a Herdier by her side and a grocery bag in one hand.

"She wants to impress Lucario," Harry said, nodding towards Lucario who was trying to hit Chimchar with Bone Rush. Snivy sat on the bench on which Harry had eaten lunch, her still healing tail twitching to show her frustration about not being allowed to join in with the training.

"So she fancies him huh?" the woman said, "Well it's not uncommon for Pokemon to develop feelings for other species."

"I know," Harry said, "A friend of mine had a Buneary who fancied another friends Pikachu. I think Buneary might have lost interest when she evolved."

"It happens," said the woman, "My name's Lenora."

"I'm Harry," Harry replied, then took out his Pokedex to scan the Herdier by Lenora's side.

" _Herdier the Loyal Dog Pokemon and evolved form of Lillipup._ _This very loyal Pokémon helps Trainers, and also takes care of other Pokémon._ "

Herdier went over to Purrloin who was still practicing Rapid Fire Shadow Ball. Purrloin glanced over at the Loyal Dog Pokemon and Herdier created a Shadow Ball of its own, before shooting five of them into the air in quick succession.

"Loin," Purrloin muttered before realizing that Herdier wasn't just showing off. It was trying to help her. Herdier demonstrated Rapid Fire Shadow Ball again and Purrloin tried to mimic it.

"You're Herdier's nice," Harry said.

"You should see her in battle," Lenora said.

"Okay," Harry said, "How about we have a battle?"

"Of course," Lenora replied, "Come to the gym tomorrow."

"Huh?" Harry said, "You're the Gym Leader?"

"Indeed I am," said Lenora then whistled to Herdier. Herdier nodded encouragingly at Purrloin then followed the Gym Leader as she walked away.

* * *

The next day, Harry and Lucario went to the gym. Lenora greeted them and took them to the battle room, where her referee was waiting for them.

"This gym battle will be a two on two battle and both trainers may substitute Pokemon when they desire," said the referee.

"Hold on, I thought Gym Leaders weren't allowed to switch Pokemon," Harry said.

"Gym Leaders can make up their own rules," Lenora told him, "And please don't interrupt."

"Sorry," Harry said.

"The battle will be over when both Pokemon on one side are unable to battle," the referee continued, "In the event of a draw the Gym Leader will decide whether the challenger deserves the Plain Badge. Now choose your Pokemon."

"Herdier let's go!" cried Lenora and Herdier appeared. Harry nodded to Lucario who stepped forwards.

"Begin!" said the referee.

"Lucario Aura Sphere!" Harry ordered and Lucario threw a powerful orb of blue Aura at Herdier.

"Protect!" Lenora said and Herdier created a blue barrier to block Aura Sphere, "Now use Roar!" Herdier Roared and its body became outlined in red energy as it released invisible circles from its mouth. Lucario disappeared into his Poké Ball.

"Chimchar battle position!" Harry called, sending out the Chimp Pokemon.

"Are you from Sinnoh?" Lenora asked curiously.

"Yes," Harry replied, "Chimchar use Vacuum Wave!" Chimchar surrounded herself in a spinning vortex before shooting a shock wave towards Herdier.

"Dodge and use five Shadow Balls!" ordered Lenora and Herdier jumped over the shock wave before firing five Shadow Balls at Chimchar.

"Counter Shield!" Harry ordered and Chimchar surrounded herself with Flame Wheel before shooting out Flamethrower from within the Flame Wheel. Herdier and Lenora's eyes widened as Counter Shield destroyed all five Shadow Balls and the whips of fire hit Herdier. Chimchar then rolled straight into Herdier, sending her crashing to the ground.

"Impressive," Lenora commented, "I've never seen Flame Wheel and Flamethrower used like that. Alright Herdier use Wild Charge!" Herdier shrouded her entire body in electricity and charged towards Chimchar.

"Flame Wheel!" Harry ordered and Chimchar rolled into another Flame Wheel and slammed directly into Herdier's Wild Charge, creating an explosion which knocked them both backwards. Sparks surrounded Herdier's body for a second as she took recoil damage, "Now use Vacuum Wave!"

"Chimchar!" cried Chimchar shooting another Vacuum Wave at Herdier.

"Protect!" ordered Lenora and Herdier hastily created a blue barrier, blocking Vacuum Wave just in time.

"Flame Wheel again!" Harry ordered and Chimchar once again surrounded herself in fire and somersaulted towards Herdier.

"Giga Impact!" Lenora countered and this time Herdier surrounded herself with a cocoon of purple and yellow energy before slamming into Chimchar, overpowering her and sending her sprawling, "Good work Herdier return." She took out a Poke Ball and recalled Herdier while Chimchar picked herself up, "Go Watchog!" A bipedal meerkat like Pokemon with red and yellow eyes and a long tail which stood upright appeared, its arms folded. Harry took out his Pokedex.

" _Watchog the Lookout Pokemon and evolved form of Patrat. The markings on its body can glow to intimidate its foes. It has excellent vision, even in darkness_."

"Chimchar use Slack Off!" ordered Harry and Chimchar lay down and stretched lazily as her body glowed white, restoring her energy.

"Watchog Mean Look!" ordered Lenora and Watchog's eyes glowed red and a red aura surrounded Chimchar's body as she leapt back onto her feet.

"Use Vacuum Wave!" Harry ordered and Chimchar fired a shock wave at Watchog.

"Dodge and use Confuse Ray!" Lenora ordered and Watchog jumped to avoid the shock wave and its eyes glowed purple. It released a dark purple beam from its eyes and Chimchar's body became surrounded by purple aura as she became confused. Harry didn't bother trying to recall her; he knew how Mean Look worked.

"Chimchar Flame Wheel!" Harry shouted and Chimchar obeyed but used it on the wall instead of Watchog, hurting herself in the process.

"Watchog Thunderbolt!" ordered Lenora and Watchog's body sparked before it launched a blast of electricity, electrocuting Chimchar, "Now use Slam!" Watchog darted towards Chimchar, but wasn't expecting the confused Pokemon to turn and lunge straight into it with Flame Wheel. However Watchog still managed to grab Chimchar and hurl her to the ground, knocking her out.

"Chimchar's unable to battle, Watchog wins!"

"Well done Chimchar, get some rest," Harry said as he recalled her, "Lucario battle position!" He threw Lucario's Poke Ball and the Aura Pokemon reappeared.

"Watchog use Low Kick!" ordered Lenora and Watchog darted forwards before crouching and sweeping a leg towards Lucario's ankles, knocking him off his feet, "Now use Thunderbolt!"

"Aura Sphere!" Harry ordered as Lucario rolled onto his feet, recovering more quickly than Lenora had expected. Watchog shot out a Thunderbolt but Lucario's Aura Sphere shot straight through the electricity and exploded when it hit Watchog knocking it to the ground, "Now use Metal Claw!" The spikes on the backs of Lucario's hands glowed and extended into three long claws. He lunged forwards as Watchog was getting up and slashed it first with his right Metal Claw, then spun around and struck it with his left sending it crashing to the ground.

"Watchog is unable to battle, Lucario wins."

"Well done Watchog," said Lenora as she recalled the Lookout Pokemon, "Herdier you're up again!" Herdier reappeared and barked at Lucario, "Five Shadow Balls!" Herdier fired five orbs of shadowy energy in quick succession.

"Bone Rush!" Harry ordered and Lucario created a bone of Aura and spun it, deflecting all five Shadow Balls easily, before lunging forwards and slamming the bone multiple times into Herdier. "Now Force Palm!" Lucario slammed his palm onto Herdier's back and unleashed a blast of yellow light creating an explosion. Lucario jumped back and watched the dust Force Palm had thrown into the air.

"Reversal!" ordered Lenora and both Harry and Lucario were caught off guard as Herdier, surrounded by blue light, charged out of the dust and smashed into Lucario sending him flying.

"What?" Harry gasped, caught off guard.

"Herdier's fur is a kind of armour that weakens attacks that land on her back," Lenora explained, "Also Reversal get's stronger the more tired the user is." Herdier was panting slightly; even with her natural body armour, Force Palm had still done a lot of damage in addition to the damage she had taken from Bone Rush and during her battle with Chimchar.

"Lucario are you okay?" Harry asked as Lucario staggered back towards Herdier.

" _I'm okay,_ " replied the Aura Pokemon, rubbing his head.

"Alright then Aura Sphere!" Harry ordered and Lucario hurled an Aura Sphere at Herdier.

"Protect, then Giga Impact!" Lenora ordered and Herdier created a blue barrier to block the Aura Sphere before leaping into the air and surrounding herself with purple and yellow energy.

"Spin then use Copycat!" Harry ordered and Lucario used a technique he had learned while he was still a Riolu, leaping straight towards Herdier and spinning in the air, creating wind pressure which allowed him to pass Herdier without being injured. Herdier barked in alarm as she landed and turned. Lucario stopped spinning and became surrounded in a waving aura of white light. He remembered how Herdier had used Giga Impact, landed on the gym floor and surrounded himself with a cocoon of purple and yellow light. Lucario charged towards Herdier, smashing into her with Giga Impact and sending her flying into the wall.

"Herdier is unable to battle, Lucario wins!" announced the referee, "The victory goes to Harry Rowan!"

"Nice work, Lucario," Harry said and Lucario nodded to him in thanks. Lenora recalled Herdier and thanked her before crossing the gym to her challenger.

"Well done Harry," Lenora said and held out the Plain Badge. Harry took it and smiled gratefully, "By the way how's Purrloin's Shadow Ball coming along?"

"She's getting the hang of it," Harry said, "Thanks. Let's go Lucario."

* * *

"Purrloin Rapid Fire Shadow Ball," Harry ordered and Purrloin fired five Shadow Balls as quickly as she could. Lucario knocked all five of them away with Bone Rush, "Okay good job. Still could use a bit more power though. Ready for another try?"

"Purrloin," said Purrloin and nodded. She then smirked mischievously and used Attract. The hearts landed on Lucario and he got hearts in his eyes before Purrloin fired five Shadow Balls at him in quick succession. All five of them slammed into him and knocked him off his feet. Purrloin burst out laughing. Harry wasn't sure whether to frown or chuckle.

"I didn't tell you to do that, but well done anyway," he said, "You okay Lucario?"

" _I'm fine,_ " Lucario grunted as he picked himself up. Purrloin sniggered as Lucario rubbed his head. Lucario glared at her, " _Saucy little minx._ "

"You ready to deflect these next Shadow Balls?" Harry asked.

" _Yes,_ " Lucario said and created another bone. Purrloin fired five Shadow Balls quickly and Lucario deflected them all. One of them flew towards a young tall, skinny young man with long brown hair who ducked hastily. The Shadow Ball slammed into the wall behind him.

"Whoops!" Harry said, noticing the man had nearly received a Shadow Ball to the face, "Sorry!"

"That's quite alright," said the man, straightening up, "You're Purrloin's got a decent Shadow Ball attack."

"Thanks," Harry said. Purrloin went over to the young man and looked up at him apologetically. The man patted her head and Purrloin quickly perked up, before going back over to Lucario.

"Those are a fine pair of Pokemon," Burgh said noting how close Purrloin was to Lucario and how much the Aura Pokemon seemed to like the attention he was receiving, "Too bad they're not Bug types."

"So you like Bug types?" Harry guessed.

"Indeed," said the man, "My name is Burgh. I'm the Gym Leader of Castelia City."

"So what are you doing here?" Harry asked.

"This is my hometown," Burgh said, "I come here whenever I get artist block."

"I'm Harry," Harry said, "And I'm hoping to challenge the Unova league."

"I see," said Burgh, "Well I look forward to accepting your challenge in Castelia City."

"Where is Castelia City?" Harry asked.

"Go through Pinwheel Forest and across Skyarrow Bridge," Burgh said, "You can't miss it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to paint a picture of your Lucario and Purrloin." He gestured to them and Harry wasn't surprised to see Purrloin rubbing against Lucario again.

"Purrloin's been like that ever since we met her," he said, "Well it was nice to meet you."

"And you," said Burgh and strode away. Harry turned to his two Pokemon.

"Well now we know where to go next," he said.

 **I probably won't update for a while. I've started writing the next chapter but right now I'm not feeling too eager to finish it. Writers block sucks.**

 **I have to admit that having so few reviews is also a bit disappointing but I'm still grateful to those who have reviewed. GarionRiva accused me in my last story of only wanting reviews to increase popularity. While I do want to increase popularity, that's not my _only_ reason for wanting more reviews. The other reason is that it's just discouraging to only have two reviewers, no matter how encouraging those two are. Again I thank those who have reviewed but I just wish there were more, whether they're encouraging or insulting. GarionRiva's final review in the last story was pretty insulting but I guess he was being cruel to be kind. **

**Am I needy? Probably.**


	6. Team Rocket

Snivy gingerly swung her Leaf Blade and cut off a thin branch from one of the countless trees in Pinwheel Forest.

"How's it feeling Snivy?" asked Harry, who was sitting on a picnic rug eating biscuits with Purrloin and Lucario. Chimchar was joyfully swinging around in the trees.

"Snivy," said Snivy, then moved on to cutting thicker branches. Her tail had healed faster than Harry had expected and he even allowed her to do light training excersizes as long as she didn't strain herself too much. Snivy still hadn't battled since her encounter with the Pawniard and Bisharp pack though and she was feeling restless.

Once Snivy got to a branch that was about eight inches thick, she successfully sliced through it but it sent a spasm of pain through her tail. Chimchar was the only one who noticed her grimace of pain.

"Char," she called, telling Snivy not to try cutting anything else. Naturally Snivy ignored her and moved to a ten inch branch. Harry hadn't noticed that slicing the eight inch branch had hurt but he noticed her grit her teeth as she cut through the ten inch one.

"Okay Snivy that's enough," he said, "Your tail's healed well." Snivy nodded then went to an eleven inch thick branch and one of her hands glowed blue. She Cut the branch and looked at her glowing hand with a satisfied expression, "Oh, you learned Cut. Well done. Okay guys it's time for us to keep going. Do you want to walk?"

"Char," said Chimchar and hopped down onto her trainer's shoulder. Purrloin yawned lazily and lay down, making it clear that she was in no mood to walk. Harry recalled her then glanced at Snivy, who shrugged and allowed Harry to recall her too. Harry then packed up the picnic and continued walking through the forest with Chimchar on his shoulder and Lucario by his side.

* * *

" _We're lost aren't we?_ " Lucario said while Harry was looking at his map.

"Yeah," Harry said. Lucario sighed in exasperation. Chimchar looked mildly amused. Then Harry had an idea, "Hey Chimchar, I need you to climb the highest tree you can find, and see if you can find a way out."

"Char," Chimchar nodded and jumped off Harry's shoulder and into the trees. Lucario and Harry waited for a couple of minutes, until Chimchar jumped back down and pointed to the right, "Chim, Chimchar."

"Okay, let's go," Harry said and Chimchar led them in the right direction.

As they walked they suddenly heard screams of pain and hurried towards the source. They entered a clearing and found a large metal cage attached to the underside of a balloon. Inside the cage were various miserable Pokemon although none of them were particularly rare or powerful.

The balloon was shaped like a Meowth.

Harry had never met Team Rocket, but Ash had told him about them and he said they often travelled in a Meowth shaped balloon. Sure enough there was a man and a woman in their early twenties in the balloon along with a small cat like Pokemon which was standing on its hind legs.

"Are you sure it's going to show up?" asked the man.

"Hey it's one of the Musketeers," Meowth said reassuringly, "Its job is to rescue Pokemon in need."

"Maybe we need to make more noise to draw it out," the woman suggested, giving the trapped Pokemon a nasty smirk. She pressed a button and the cage electrocuted the unfortunate Pokémon trapped inside it. Harry, Chimchar and Lucario all scowled, then stepped into the clearing.

"Hey!" Harry shouted, "Team Rocket, I presume?"

"How did he know?" yelped Jessie, "We're supposed to be undercover!"

"Ash Ketchum's told me about you," Harry said, "He said you're a bunch of stupid idiots…"

"Stupid idiots?" Jessie shrieked in outrage.

"Who spent three years following him around, trying and failing to catch his Pikachu," Harry finished as though she hadn't spoken.

"A friend of the twerp?" said James, "Just our luck."

"That brat's going to pay!" Jessie yelled reaching for a Poke Ball.

"Whoa easy Jess," Meowth said hastily before turning to Harry, "Listen twerp. You don't bother us and we won't bother you."

"Why not?" snapped Jessie.

"Because even friends of the twerp have a habit of sending us blasting off," Meowth snapped.

"I'm looking forward to sending you guys blasting off," Harry said with a smirk, "Lucario Aura Sphere!" Lucario created an orb of Aura and hurled it at the balloon.

"Go Woobat!" cried Jessie and a small, furry bat like Pokemon appeared and flew straight into the Aura Sphere, shrugging it off easily thanks to its Psychic and Flying typing, "Permission to attack now Meowth?"

"Granted," Meowth said and his sharp claws popped out while James grabbed a Poke Ball of his own.

"Go Yamask!" James shouted and a small Pokemon with two shadowy, tendril-like arms and large, red eyes appeared. It also has a small tail-like appendage which was holding a mask in the shape of a human face.

"Chimchar use Flamethrower on Yamask!" Harry ordered and Chimchar fired a stream of flames towards the Ghost type.

"Shadow Ball!" ordered James and Yamask created an orb of shadowy energy between its hands and hurled it at the Flamethrower, creating an explosion.

"Woobat use Air Cutter!" commanded Jessie and Woobat flapped its wings and unleashed a gust of wind filled with sharp blades of energy. The Air Cutter hit both Lucario and Chimchar at the same time.

"Yamask use Will-O-Wisp!" ordered James and Yamask created a blue flame between its hands and hurled it at Lucario, who screamed in pain as he was hit by the Fire type move and burned.

"Chimchar Flame Wheel on Yamask!" Harry ordered and Chimchar rolled into a Flame Wheel and lunged at Yamask.

"Use Gust!" Jessie countered and Woobat flapped its wings again and shot out a Gust which was strong enough to blow Chimchar to the ground.

"Yamask Shadow Ball!" ordered James and Yamask hurled another Shadow Ball at Chimchar, sending her crashing into a tree.

"Chimchar!" Harry cried, caught off guard by how well Woobat and Yamask were fighting together, "Alright Lucario Copycat!" Lucario's eyes glowed and he was surrounded by purple aura as he copied Shadow Ball and hurled it at Yamask.

"Block it!" ordered James and Yamask grabbed its mask and used it as a shield, catching both Harry and Lucario off guard.

"Woobat use Heart Stamp!" ordered Jessie and Woobat fired a pink heart from its nose which slammed into Lucario and knocked him off his feet.

Harry gritted his teeth. From what Ash and Brock had told him, Team Rocket were incompetent, stupid and usually quite easy to defeat. As time went on, they had apparently become nothing more than an annoyance. But they had obviously stepped up their game since they stopped chasing "the twerp" and now it seemed that they were a legitimate threat.

Then Harry heard the Pokemon in the cage screaming encouragement to him and his Pokemon. Harry refocussed on the battle and noticed Lucario catch fire from the burn Will-O-Wisp had caused.

"Chimchar jump into the trees and use Acrobatics on Woobat!" Harry ordered and Chimchar sprang into the trees.

"Use Air Cutter and flush it out!" ordered Jessie and Woobat shot blades of air into the trees, stripping away leaves but Chimchar was too agile, especially whilst using Acrobatics. She suddenly stopped dodging and lunged out of the trees, leaving behind afterimages before slamming into Woobat, knocking it to the ground. "Woobat are you alright?"

"Woo," Woobat said, hovering back into the air and bobbing up and down in a nod. Harry was surprised by Jessie's display of concern for her Pokémon.

"Yamask use Shadow Ball on Lucario!" ordered James and Yamask hurled a Shadow Ball at Lucario knocking him off his feet. Lucario pushed himself up on his elbows, then caught fire again and fainted.

"Woobat use Heart Stamp!" ordered Jessie and Woobat shot another heart from its nose which slammed into Chimchar, knocking her out. Harry stared at the two fallen Pokémon in shock, "Huh. I was expecting a friend of the twerp to be more of a challenge."

"You gonna back off now?" Meowth asked, flexing his claws threateningly. Harry looked at the clearly male Meowth and smirked as he recalled Lucario and Chimchar.

"Oh hell no," he said, "Purrloin battle position!" Purrloin burst out of her Poke Ball, "Use Attract on Meowth!" Purrloin winked at Meowth and shot out pink hearts which landed on the Scratch Cat Pokémon. Meowth's eyes turned into hearts and his claws disappeared as he clutched his heart.

"Wow!" he cried, "You're so pretty!" He jumped down from the balloon and ran towards Purrloin who watched him approach with an amused expression. Then she stepped aside and Meowth tripped as he tried to turn towards her. Purrloin laughed. Jessie, James, Woobat and Yamask all sweat-dropped.

"Yamask use Shadow Ball on Purrloin!" ordered James and Yamask obediently shot a Shadow Ball at Purrloin. Purrloin wasn't hurt much by the Ghost type move but she deliberately started to cry when she was hit, then hid behind Meowth who glared at Yamask.

"Night Slash!" cried Meowth and his claws extended and turned black before he leapt at Yamask and slashed it as he passed, knocking it out. While his back was turned, Purrloin caught her trainer's eye and winked mischievously.

"Meowth snap out of it!" yelled Jessie but Meowth ignored her and ran back to comfort Purrloin.

"Night Slash is a scary move but I'd do anything for you," Meowth said and Purrloin smiled.

"I didn't even know you'd mastered it," mumbled James as he recalled Yamask.

"Purrloin, you up for taking on Woobat?" asked Harry. Purrloin nodded, "Then use Slash on Meowth."

"Wait what!" yelped Meowth before finding himself on the receiving end of Purrloin's Slash attack. Harry felt a bit sorry for him as he crashed to the ground but Purrloin just stepped past him gracefully, with a smug smirk.

"Woobat use Air Cutter!" yelled Jessie angrily and Woobat fired blades of air at Purrloin.

"Dodge and use Shadow Ball!" ordered Harry and Purrloin sprang into the air, forming a Shadow Ball as she moved and firing it at Woobat, knocking it out of the sky, "Now use Slash!"

"Loin!" Purrloin cried as her claws extended. However she didn't notice that Meowth had recovered from her previous Slash and was angry that she had manipulated him. Meowth lunged and used Bite on Purrloin's front paw in midair, being careful to avoid the claws. Purrloin screamed in pain and surprise as the extra weight caused both her and Meowth to fall to the ground. With Purrloin momentarily stunned, the furious Meowth slashed her five times with Fury Swipes, knocking her out.

"That's for tricking me!" yelled Meowth then turned to Harry as he recalled Purrloin.

"Good to have you back on our side," said James.

"Snivy!" cried Snivy as she burst out of her Poke Ball without prompting. She smirked at Team Rocket confidently. Harry glanced briefly at her tail. Snivy's tail glowed and without waiting for a command, she lunged at Meowth and slashed him with Leaf Blade. If she felt any pain in her tail, she gave no sign of it.

"Oww," moaned Meowth.

"Woobat Gust!" ordered Jessie and Woobat flapped its wings hard, creating a strong wind which blew Snivy back.

"Vine Whip a branch!" Harry shouted and Snivy reached out with Vine Whip and wrapped it around a nearby branch, anchoring herself to stop the Gust from blowing her back any further, "Use Glare!"

"Vy," Snivy Glared at Woobat who froze up from the paralyzing effect, forcing it to stop its Gust as it now had trouble flapping its wings.

"Swing towards it and use Cut!" Harry ordered and Snivy swung on her vine and her hand glowed blue. She slashed Woobat as she passed and it fell to the ground, unconscious. Snivy landed gracefully behind the fallen Woobat with a satisfied smirk.

"Woobat return," said Jessie. She was annoyed but her annoyance wasn't directed at her Pokémon. She glared at Harry, "Looks like I'll have to bring out my secret weapon. Go Wobbuffet!" A strange blue Pokémon with a black tail appeared and lifted one arm to its forehead in a salute.

"Wobbuffet!" announced the weird creature. Harry had never seen this Pokémon before. He took out his Pokedex, watching Team Rocket warily. They made no attempt to attack him while he was scanning the Pokémon.

" _Wobbuffet the Patient Pokémon and evolved form of Wynaut. It won't attack on its own but it cannot endure an attack on its tail. When that happens, the Pokémon will try to take the foe with it using Destiny Bond_."

"Okay Snivy, don't aim for the tail," Harry warned and Snivy nodded, "Use Leaf Storm!" Snivy summoned a powerful storm of leaves and aimed at Wobbuffet. Jessie and James just watched calmly. Jessie didn't even give Wobbuffet a command and Harry quickly learned why they hadn't attacked while he was looking at the Pokedex.

"Wobbu!" cried Wobbuffet and its body glowed a white, reflective colour. Leaf Storm slammed into the Mirror Coat and then was sent straight back at Snivy. Wobbuffet saluted happily as the attack slammed into Snivy, sending her crashing into a tree.

"Snivy!" Harry cried and Snivy collapsed, wincing in pain. Wobbuffet watched its opponent with an obliviously happy smile. It didn't even seem to be taunting Snivy; it simply looked stupidly happy.

"Viiiir!" cried a voice and Team Rocket looked up.

"Finally," James muttered as a green, quadruped, antelope like Pokémon burst into the clearing. The creatures body glowed green and a long, curved horn glowing with a light green aura formed on its forehead. It sliced through the bars of the cage holding the captive Pokémon and they immediately started fleeing. The mysterious Pokémon turned to Team Rocket as Harry looked at his Pokedex again.

" _Virizion the Grassland Pokémon. It is a member of a group of Pokémon known as the Swords of Justice. Legends say this Pokémon confounded opponents with its swift movements_."

Virizion lunged at Wobbuffet, preparing another Sacred Sword as it moved. Jessie smirked confidently as Wobbuffet glowed red and the Counter attack sent the Legendary Pokémon flying back. Virizion picked itself up with an annoyed expression. Behind it, Snivy picked herself up and looked up at the Legendary Grass type.

"Snivy, you okay?" Harry asked. Snivy winced and twitched her tail to make sure it was alright. Fortunately her tail hadn't been between her body and the tree when she collided with it, so she hadn't compromised the healing process. She nodded at her trainer and the pair looked back at Virizion, who was now glowing as several transparent swords spun around its body. Harry recognised the move as Swords Dance. Even though it was raising its Attack power, no doubt in the hopes of taking out Wobbuffet with one strike, Team Rocket weren't at all worried. Harry thought back to the Pokedex entry and realized what they were planning to have Wobbuffet do if Virizion overpowered it, "Wobbuffet's going to use Destiny Bond. Even a Legendary Pokémon will get knocked out by that."

"Snivy," Snivy nodded as Virizion used another Swords Dance. Wobbuffet just waited patiently for it to launch an attack, still wearing that annoyingly happy grin. Snivy looked at Harry, then at Wobbuffet. Without warning she lunged towards the Patient Pokémon.

"Snivy wait!" Harry shouted. Virizion looked up in alarm as Snivy darted past it. Her tail glowed with the green light of Leaf Blade.

"Wobbuffet you know what to do," Jessie said dismissively and Wobbuffet glowed red but at the last moment, Snivy leapt directly over the Patient Pokémon's head. Wobbuffet's smile disappeared as it realized what Snivy was about to do, and it's body turned from red to purple as Snivy slashed a Leaf Blade down onto its vulnerable tail. Wobbuffet yelped in pain but then the Destiny Bond passed onto Snivy and both Pokémon collapsed.

"Snivy!" Harry called.

"Wobbuffet!" screamed Jessie, her confidence vanishing as her secret weapon was brought down. Virizion smirked and abandoned Swords Dance, deciding to start absorbing sunlight instead, "Return! Meowth get us out of here!" Meowth, who was still smarting from Snivy's Leaf Blade and Purrloin's Slash, hastily caused their balloon to ascend, but it wasn't going fast enough.

"Oh come on!" groaned Meowth, "We've gone two years without this happening!" Virizion unleashed its Solarbeam which smashed into the balloon's basket and sent Team Rocket flying into the sky.

"Is it weird that I've kind of missed this?" asked James.

"Yes," Jessie said, "But old habits die hard so we might as well say it."

"Just like old times," Meowth said and grinned painfully at his human partners,

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" the trio hollered as they became specks in the sky.

Harry watched Team Rocket disappear then looked at Virizion. The Sword of Justice gave him a brief nod, then bounded away into the forest. All that was left in the clearing was Harry, the unconscious Snivy and the now destroyed cage, which no longer contained any of the forest Pokémon. Harry went over to Snivy and picked her up. He wasn't sure how long she would be unconscious after a Destiny Bond but he spoke to her anyway.

"Nice work Snivy. You get some rest." As he recalled her, Harry hoped she hadn't strained herself too much and slowed down her healing process.

 **As I've said before, I'm hoping to do Team Rocket vs Team Plasma but writers block is making things harder at the moment. It took me ages to finish this chapter and I haven't even started on the next one. I hope this was a good introduction for Jessie, James and Meowth. I'm trying to balance their badass Unova versions with their likeable but rather irritating idiot versions.**


	7. Stealing from Nacrene Museum

Jessie, James and Meowth were rubbing their backsides. They'd grown used to blasting off from the three years they had spent chasing Ash, but that didn't mean it wasn't painful. They had landed in a tree on a street in Nacrene City and people were staring at them as they hauled themselves to their feet.

"What are ya lookin' at!" Meowth snapped. Naturally people jumped when they heard him talk. Several seemed fascinated but most just continued going about their business.

"I guess we need a new balloon again," muttered James.

"No problem," Meowth said, "The boss has been lovin' us since we stopped chasin' the twerp."

"And yet you're still not his Top Cat," Jessie pointed out. Meowth scowled as he thought of Giovanni's Persian.

"We'll need to find a way to contact headquarters," he said, "The boss isn't gonna be happy."

* * *

Meowth was right. Giovanni wasn't happy that they had failed to catch Virision. But he wasn't angry either. He didn't even seem disappointed. Just indifferent. Jessie, James and Meowth hated it when their boss didn't show emotion because it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. The trio were crowded into a phone box in Nacrene City, which had a screen which showed their boss. As usual, he was petting his Persian, who couldn't resist shooting a smug smirk at Meowth.

"The Swords of Justice are no longer of any concern to me," Giovanni told the trio, "I have a much more important mission for you now. I need you to go to the Nacrene Museum and steal the Light and Dark Stones."

"The Light and Dark Stones?" said James, "Aren't they the stones that are said to contain Reshiram and Zekrom?"

"Precisely," said Giovanni, "I will be travelling to Unova myself to oversee the summoning of those two."

"But how do we control them?" asked Meowth.

"You let me worry about that," Giovanni said dismissively, "Just get the Stones. We will rendezvous at the Relic Castle. I'll send you a map. I should warn you I will not be so forgiving if you fail this time."

The screen went blank. Jessie, James and Meowth got out of the phone box and Meowth noted, "I guess we were lucky to land so close to the museum."

"So how shall we do it?" asked James.

"We wait until it's dark," Jessie replied, "I'm sure Yamask could be of use in this mission."

* * *

Jessie was right. While she, James and Meowth could fit in the museum's vents, Yamask could pass through walls and other obstacles as long as he left his mask with James. The trouble was that the museum was so large that it was difficult to know exactly where the Light and Dark Stones were kept.

"Yamask," hissed James, "Have you found them yet?" The Ghost type reappeared in front of the trio who were still crouched in the vent. He bobbed up and down in a nod and gestured for them to follow him. Jessie and James were beginning to feel cramped from being in the vents for so long. Meowth only had to stoop slightly due to his much smaller size, but doing so had started to give him neck-ache so he started walking on all fours. Sometimes he forgot that most members of his species were more comfortable walking on four legs.

The thieves found a large room with two entrances, opposite each other. The room contained pictures of Reshiram and Zekrom as well as two large, glass cases. Each one had a large, round stone inside, one black and one white. There were also countless lasers crisscrossing the room. Jessie cursed softly.

"Hey look," Meowth hissed as a movement caught his eye. At first glance it looked like a shadow but then it began moving with incredible dexterity, flipping and somersaulting between the lasers. In the red light of the lasers the group could see that it was a person.

"Hey," hissed Jessie, "He's stealing our loot!"

"We're the thieves here!" James said indignantly, speaking a bit too loudly. The ninja landed in front of the case and looked up at the vent. Two Poke Balls were opened and an Accelgor and Pawniard appeared. The Accelgor darted towards the vent while Pawniard started using its claws to cut into the glass case which contained the Dark Stone.

"Focus Blast," said the Shadow Triad member and Accelgor formed a yellow orb between its hands and threw it at the vent, blasting a hole in it and causing Jessie, James and Meowth to fall right into the lasers, setting off the alarm.

"Hey!" yelled Jessie, "Now we're all screwed!"

"I'm not," said the Shadow Triad member simply as Pawniard finished cutting into the case. The ninja reached in and seized the Dark Stone then called to Accelgor, "Focus Blast this case!" Instead of the precise method of breaking into the first case that Pawniard had used, Accelgor simply smashed the second with Focus Blast. The Light Stone was completely undamaged by the attack.

"Yamask Will-O-Wisp!" ordered James and Yamask, whom the Shadow Triad member appeared to have forgotten about, fired blue flames at the ninja and his Pokémon, forcing them to leap away from the case to avoid being burned.

"Whose there!" cried the voice of a security guard. The Shadow Triad member glared at Team Rocket.

"Fine," he said, "I only need one stone anyway!" He recalled his Pokémon and darted into the shadows, his dark clothing allowing him to blend in perfectly as a man with a flashlight and a Stoutland by his side ran into the room.

"Oi!" he bellowed then suddenly the Shadow Triad member appeared behind him, seemingly from nowhere and chopped him on the back of his neck with one hand, knocking him unconscious. The Stoutland turned and leapt at him but the ninja allowed it to Tackle him before bracing his feet under its stomach and hurling it over him. Jessie, James and Meowth watched in astonishment as the ninja jumped to his feet looking no worse for the wear.

"I suggest you get out of here," he said dismissively, "More guards will be here soon." He disappeared.

"How does he do that?" muttered Jessie.

"Who cares," said James, "He was kind enough to leave the Light Stone behind." He picked up the stone and shoved it into a black bag they had brought with them. The Stoutland barked at them and there were shouts from other security guards rushing towards the scene.

"Night Slash!" cried Meowth and lunged at the Stoutland, claws glowing black as he slashed the larger Pokémon, knocking it aside. The group ran around the corner and found two guards rushing towards them.

"Stop!" yelled one of them.

"Woobat use Gust!" cried Jessie and her bat-like Pokémon appeared and blew both guards off their feet with a powerful Gust attack, giving Team Rocket time to sprint past them.

"Look a window!" cried Meowth. Jessie turned to Woobat and James turned to Yamask.

"Heart Stamp!" Jessie ordered and Woobat fired a pink heart.

"Shadow Ball!" James commanded and Yamask fired a black orb. The two attacks smashed open the window, leaving a hole which was easily large enough for an adult human to fit through. The group leapt through the window into some bushes outside. It was a three story fall but that barely bothered them because they had fallen much further in all the times they'd been sent blasting off. Opposite them was a line of trees. They pelted across the grass and ran into the forest.

"Right now what?" asked Meowth as they continued running, putting as much distance between themselves and the museum as they could.

"We need to lie low and find a way to the Relic Castle," Jessie said.

"Too bad we don't have the balloon," James mumbled.

"That would draw too much attention anyway," Jessie replied.

* * *

Team Rocket managed to find a large cave on the other side of the forest. Collapsing inside it, they examined the Light Stone and congratulated themselves on a job well done.

"I wonder who that ninja guy was?" said Meowth.

"Probably a member of that other criminal team that's working in this region," James replied, "What are they called?"

"Team Plasma," Jessie replied.

"Oh yeah," James said, then yawned, "I'm tired."

"We'd better get some sleep," said Jessie and opened Woobat's Poke Ball, "Woobat, I need you to keep watch. Wake us if anyone finds the cave." Woobat bobbed up and down obediently. Jessie, James and Meowth lay on the hard, uncomfortable ground and fell asleep.

 **I'm struggling with this story at the moment. Writers block is a bitch. This will most likely be the only chapter that doesn't have Harry in it.**


	8. Exploring Castelia Sewers

It took Harry a whole day to get out of Pinwheel Forest. Whilst crossing Skyarrow Bridge, Harry and Lucario stopped in the middle of the bridge and looked out over the huge river beneath them. Harry let out Purrloin, Snivy and Chimchar. As usual, Chimchar perched on his shoulder. Snivy hopped onto the guard railing and looked out at the horizon. Purrloin looked at the water far below and pressed slightly against Lucario.

"Are you scared or just looking for an excuse?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow at Purrloin.

"Loin," Purrloin muttered.

" _She's scared of heights,_ " Lucario translated.

"You sure she's not lying to you?" Harry asked. Purrloin put a paw on her heart in mock offence. Chimchar sniggered and Lucario smirked. Snivy paid them no attention.

" _She's telling the truth,_ " he assured his trainer.

"Good," Harry said, "Too bad you were unconscious when she made a fool of Meowth. Manipulative one she is."

" _Well it's difficult to lie through Aura,_ " Lucario said.

"Hey did that Lucario just talk?" said a voice and a dark haired girl approaching with a curious expression.

"You heard him?" he said and glanced at Lucario who shrugged.

" _Basically all I have to do is think louder if that makes any sense,_ " he explained, " _This telepathic stuff's easier than I expected._ "

"Yeah I heard him," the girl said, "I've never met a telepathic Pokemon before."

"Well now you have," Harry said, "I'm Harry."

"Samantha," said the girl, "Wanna battle?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"On a bridge?" he asked and Samantha shrugged.

"Why not?" she said, "There's enough space." Harry hesitated, then shrugged.

"Okay," he agreed.

"Great," said Samantha, "Three on three?"

"Fine with me," Harry agreed, "But let's switch Pokémon after each victory. Ladies first."

"What a gentleman you are," Samantha said and tossed a Poke Ball, "Go Ducklett!" A tiny blue Duck like Pokemon appeared.

" _Ducklett the Water Bird Pokemon. It is_ _better at swimming than flying, and happily eats its favorite food, peat moss, when it dives underwater_."

"Purrloin you're up first," Harry said. Purrloin went to the middle of the bridge and faced Ducklet who hadn't taken flight yet.

"Ducklett Bubblebeam!" ordered Samantha and Ducklett opened its beak but before it could fire the attack, Harry gave his command.

"Fake Out!" he ordered and Purrloin clapped her paws together and sent a shock wave towards Ducklett causing it to flinch and cancel its Bubblebeam, "Rapid Fire Shadow Ball!"

"Loin, Loin, Loin, Loin, Loin!" Purrloin cried and fired five Shadow Balls swiftly towards Ducklett. She took a breath once she'd fired the fifth Shadow Ball. Part of learning the technique was learning to hold ones breath long enough to form all five Shadow Balls in a row instead of pausing for breath between each one. Three of the five Shadow Balls slammed into Ducklet but the other two missed. It didn't matter though because Ducklett was unconscious.

"Well done but you still need to work on your aim," Harry told Purrloin. Purrloin flattened her ears contritely and nodded. She glanced over at Lucario and her ears perked up again when he gave her a brief smile.

"I didn't know you could launch five Shadow Balls in a row," Samantha said.

"If you're going to challenge Lenora you should be prepared for that," Harry replied as he recalled Purrloin, "So who's next?"

"You go first this time," Samantha said.

"Okay," Harry replied, "Go Chimchar!" Chimchar sprang off his shoulder and landed in front of him.

"Go Boldore!" cried Samantha and a rock-like Pokémon with an array of red rocks on its body appeared, walking on pincer like limbs.

"Chimchar Vacuum Wave!" ordered Harry and Chimchar summoned a shock wave which slammed into Boldore causing it to stumble.

"Rock Blast!" ordered Samantha and Boldore formed a large rock in front of its body and fired it at Chimchar, followed immediately by another rock and then a third. Chimchar ducked under the first rock, jumped over the second and got hit in mid-air by the third. Chimchar back flipped onto her feet, wincing slightly from the bruise forming on her stomach.

"Flamethrower!" ordered Harry and Chimchar fired a stream of flames. Boldore just stood there and took it, grunting with amusement.

"Boldore use Rock Blast again!" Samantha ordered and this time Boldore fired five rocks at Chimchar.

"Acrobatics then Flame Wheel!" Harry ordered and Chimchar jumped and sprang from rock to rock before using the speed she had picked up from Acrobatics to increase the momentum of her Flame Wheel. Once again though, Boldore just stood there and took the hit easily.

"Rock Smash!" ordered Samantha and Boldore pulled back one of its legs which glowed dark orange and smashed it into Chimchar, sending her flying, "Now use Rock Blast!" Boldore fired two rocks which both slammed into Chimchar, knocking her to the ground. Chimchar picked herself up and glared at Boldore. The flame on her bottom grew larger as Blaze activated.

"Chimchar Flamethrower!" Harry ordered and Chimchar launched a much stronger Flamethrower. This time Boldore took a step back.

"Boldore Headbutt!" ordered Samantha and Boldore charged straight into the Blaze boosted Flamethrower but allowing the attack to make prolonged contact proved to be a mistake. Not only did the bright flames blowing in its face block Boldore's vision of Chimchar and allow her to step aside easily, but it also caused the Rock type to continue burning once the Flamethrower stopped.

"Even with a Rock type, it's risky to charge headlong into a Blaze boosted Flamethrower," Harry said, "Use Vacuum Wave!" Chimchar summoned another Vacuum Wave and fired it at the burning Boldore knocking it out. Samantha looked disappointed as she recalled it.

"You're tough," she muttered, "I didn't even get to use all three of my Pokémon."

"That's too bad," Harry said apologetically, "My Snivy would have liked to battle too." He glanced at Snivy who was standing with Lucario. Snivy looked at Samantha and stuck her nose in the air contemptuously, "Oh."

"I don't think I impressed Snivy," Samantha mumbled then shrugged, "Oh well. Thanks for battling anyway. Bye." She walked past him and continued along the bridge. Harry looked at Snivy.

"You need to work on your manners," he said. Snivy grunted and hopped back onto the guard railing. Harry looked briefly at the scar on her tail. Snivy noticed and twitched her tail casually, showing that it was fully healed. Harry recalled her and Purrloin and Chimchar hopped onto his shoulder while Lucario stopped leaning against the railing and followed his trainer across the rest of the bridge.

* * *

Castelia City was massive, bigger than any of the cities in Sinnoh. It was also more crowded than Harry was used to. Lucario noticed his trainers uncomfortable stance and Chimchar could feel it through his shoulders as the people hurried past them. Harry had never liked crowds and even with two of his Pokémon out of their Poke Balls, nobody tried to give him any space. It was a relief to reach the Pokémon Center but even the lobby was a bit too full for Harry's liking. Then he noticed that a group of people were crowded around a television.

"It has been reported that the Dark Stone and the Light Stone were stolen from the Nacrene City museum late last night," said a female news reporter.

Harry went towards the television interestedly, trying to see over the heads of the crowd without actually being surrounded by them.

" _Harry,_ " Lucario said quietly and Harry glanced at him. Lucario gestured to a small, furry creature sitting on a chair at the back of the Pokémon Center. Nobody was paying attention, which was surprising considering how rare the species was but this particular Pokémon had a confident aura around it, and a gleam in its eye that seemed to warn people not to get too close.

"What's an Eevee doing here?" Harry mumbled. Lucario shrugged, "Go and check it out. I want to find out more about this." Lucario nodded and approached the Eevee. The smaller Pokemon crouched defensively, her ears flattened as she growled aggressively. She didn't seem afraid, even though she would most likely stand no chance against Lucario in a fight. There was a fighting spirit about her that Lucario admired.

" _It's alright, I mean you no harm_ ," Lucario said. Using telepathy even to other Pokémon was becoming almost instinctive now. " _What are you doing here?_ " The Eevee nodded to the television, " _What does it have to do with you?_ " Eevee shrugged and started to walk away. The doors of the Pokémon Center opened as Eevee approached and she exited without a backwards glance, " _Wait._ "

Lucario glanced into the Pokémon Center. He wasn't used to going anywhere without Harry but his trainer had Chimchar, Purrloin and Snivy to look after him and in theory a Lucario could pick out his trainer's Aura from a mile away, so he shouldn't have too much trouble finding him again. The only problem was that Lucario had never actually tried sensing Harry from a mile away. He shrugged and decided that now was as good a time as any to attempt that. He followed the Eevee.

The little creature walked through Castelia City as though she owned the place, snarling aggressively at anyone who came too close. Lucario's experience with Eevee was limited - the only Eevee he'd ever known was Harry's Glaceon before she evolved - but he'd never imagined them as an aggressive species. This Eevee also seemed to have remarkably acute senses, far beyond those of a normal Eevee. It reminded Lucario of Brock's Croagunk's ability to sense trouble long before the trouble revealed itself. He wondered if this Eevee was gifted with the Anticipation Ability. Considering Unova had Pokémon with Hidden Abilities, it was entirely possible.

Lucario grimaced as Eevee led him to the entrance of a sewer. Being part Steel type, toxic waste didn't have any affect on him but that didn't stop it from being smelly. Eevee entered the sewer without hesitation. Lucario paused but was curious about what the Eevee was looking for, so he followed.

It was dark but Lucario simply closed his eyes and extended his Aura senses in order to see. Eevee had probably been down here countless times because even in the darkness, she moved confidently. She was unbothered by the sewage waste and even the handful of Grimer they passed didn't bother them. Then the two of them heard voices.

"Ghetsis said that Colress' device is taking longer to complete than expected," muttered one of the voices.

"Yeah but why do we have to hide out in a sewer until it's finished?" grumbled another voice.

"Well how often do the police come into a sewer?" grunted a third. Eevee and Lucario turned a corner and found three figures standing next to a rather large hole in the wall, which looked like it had been smashed open by a powerful Pokémon. Lucario recognised the group swiftly.

" _Shadow Triad,_ " he growled. The ninjas looked up and saw the intruders. Lucario could sense the Aura of a powerful stone emanating from a bag behind the three ninjas. That must be one of the stones stolen from the Nacrene Museum. Lucario vaguely wondered why the other stone wasn't there too.

"You," said the tallest one, presumably the leader, "You're that Lucario from the Dreamyard."

" _Glad you remember me,_ " Lucario grunted.

"So you can talk," said the second ninja, "I thought there was a whispering in the back of my mind the last time we met."

"I see your dear trainer's not here," said the third, "Did he abandon you?"

" _No,_ " Lucario growled, " _He never would. I left to come and find you._ "

"With an Eevee," the leader snorted, "Of all the Pokémon you could bring as backup, you bring an Eevee?" Eevee growled aggressively as the leader took out a Poke Ball, "Go Absol!" The Disaster Pokémon appeared and Excavalier and Accelgor appeared on either side of him.

" _Three against two,_ " Lucario smirked, " _Hardly a fair fight. Shall I keep my eyes closed?_ " Ironically that's exactly what he needed to do in order to see clearly in the dim light. Absol, Accelgor and Excavalier advanced while Lucario summoned a Bone Rush and Eevee crouched in a battle stance.

* * *

"Lucario!" Harry shouted as he walked through the city, "Lucario, where are you?"

Chimchar hopped from lamp post to lamp post, staying above the heads of the crowd, which was fortunately starting to thin as dusk drew near. Purrloin sniffed around for any scent of the Aura Pokémon. Snivy simply wandered by Harry's side, feigning indifference although her sharp eyes were looking around for any sign of Lucario.

"It's not like him to disappear," Harry mumbled. He was starting to get worried. Lucario was the strongest Pokémon he had with him right now, but he was far from invincible. Harry was slightly surprised when Snivy extended a Vine Whip and patted his hand. He glanced down at her and she smiled at him comfortingly before they continued their search.

* * *

Lucario was impressed by Eevee. Despite her size, the Evolution Pokémon was proving to be quite a formidable fighter, perhaps on par with Harry's own Glaceon or Leafeon. She slammed into Absol with a Take Down attack before using Quick Attack to escape from Accelgor. Lucario was in the process of using Bone Rush to defend himself from Excavalier's Fury Attack.

"Absol use Future Sight!" ordered the leader and Absol's eyes glowed blue as he created two portals and sent a blast of Psychic energy through the portals and into the future. Eevee attempted to use Quick Attack on Accelgor but as fast as she was, Accelgor was faster and dodged the attack.

"Use Swift!" ordered the smallest member of the Shadow Triad and Accelgor unleashed a barrage of stars which smashed Eevee against the wall. Seeing the trouble his partner was in, Lucario used Bone Rush to knock Excavalier out of the way before lunging at Absol as he lunged towards Eevee, raising his scythe like horn which was glowing green, showing that he was preparing a Megahorn.

"Absol watch out for Lucario!" the leader ordered and Absol turned at the last moment and used his still glowing scythe to block Lucario's Bone Rush.

"Quick Attack Accelgor!" ordered Accelgor's trainer and while Lucario was distracted by Absol, Accelgor rammed into him with Quick Attack. Lucario stumbled against the wall and then got smashed into the stone work by Absol's Psycho Cut, which hurt a lot more than Quick Attack.

"Skewer them both, Excavalier," ordered the third ninja and Excavalier's eyes gleamed wickedly as it aimed both of its lances at Lucario and Eevee. Lucario managed to summon Bone Rush and redirect Excavalier's right lance into the wall just above his head. Eevee managed to avoid being gutted but still received a deep wound on her left leg. Growling in pain, she fired a Shadow Ball and knocked Excavalier away. Then the two portals Absol had created reappeared and two blasts of Psychic energy blasted out and slammed into Eevee and Lucario, knocking them both unconscious.

"Let's go," grunted the leader.

"Excavalier wants to get his lances bloody," protested Excavalier's trainer.

"He already has," said the leader, gesturing to Eevee's blood on Excavalier's right lance, "Just leave them here. We need to get to the Relic Castle." The three ninja's recalled their Pokémon and left through the hole which their Pokémon had blasted in the wall of the sewer.

* * *

"Purrloin are you sure Lucario's down here?" Harry asked as they wandered through the sewer, using Chimchar's backside to light the way, "How can you even pick up his scent?"

"Loin," Purrloin replied, jumping over some of the crap that was floating down the sewer pipe. She was going to need a serious wash after this little expedition.

"Char!" called Chimchar and bounded ahead, "Chimchar!" Harry and Purrloin followed her around the corner and found Lucario and Eevee lying against the wall. Eevee's back leg was bleeding.

"Lucario!" Harry hurried over to his Starter Pokémon and shook him awake, "What happened?"

" _Harry_?" Lucario mumbled, slightly disorientated, " _Eevee and I... we found the Shadow Triad. They got away with one of the stones._ " Purrloin nuzzled him comfortingly.

"Chimchar!" Chimchar called and Harry looked over at the Eevee. The wound in her leg didn't look too serious but they were in a sewer which could very easily lead to infection. Eevee started to regain consciousness. Harry knelt down and reached out to pick her up.

"Ow!" Harry yelped as Eevee used Bite on his hand and then backed away.

" _He's trying to help you,_ " Lucario scolded Eevee, " _That leg might get infected. We need to get you to the Pokémon Center._ "

"Eevee," said Eevee stubbornly and started limping away. She stumbled on her bad leg and glanced back at the wound with irritation.

"Eevee if the filth from this sewer gets in your wound, you'll get an infection," Harry said, "You don't want to die do you?" Eevee looked at him for a moment, then shook her head, "Then let me take you to the Pokémon Centre."

"Eevee," Eevee said shaking her head again.

" _Sh_ _e wants to walk,_ " Lucario translated.

"Don't be stupid," Harry said, "You need to keep that leg off the ground, especially in a place as filthy as this. Let me carry you." Eevee turned and continued walking. Harry was surprised when Snivy burst out of her Poke Ball. She grimaced at the smell but quickly recovered and went over to Eevee.

"Snivy, Sni, Snivy," she said and gestured to her tail which still had a scar on it. She hoped that showing Eevee her scar would make her more willing to accept help, "Vy, Sni." Eevee looked at the tail with mild interest, but then continued walking. Snivy sighed and reached out with Vine Whip, wrapping them around Eevee's middle and lifting him into the air. Eevee squealed in outrage and started struggling but Snivy held her above the sewage waste and refused to put her down as she and Chimchar began leading the way out of the sewer.

* * *

Eevee struggled so much that Snivy was forced to use Glare to stop her from breaking free. She continued holding Eevee all the way to the Pokémon Center, causing them to receive strange looks from passing people. Eevee looked mortified to be seen in such an undignified position.

In the Pokémon Centre, Snivy finally put Eevee down on Nurse Joy's desk while Harry summoned her. By now Eevee was exhausted from struggling and blood loss so she was surprisingly docile when Joy came to examine him.

"Will she be okay?" Harry asked. Eevee's ears perked up slightly but she pretended she hadn't heard Harry's display of concern for her.

"Well she lost a lot of blood and her wound needs cleaning," Nurse Joy said, "But she should be alright. You can come back for her tomorrow."

"She's not my Eevee," Harry said, "I just found her in the sewers. By the way my Lucario's got a few bumps and bruises too."

"I'll get Audino to deal with those," Nurse Joy assured him as Harry handed over Lucario's Poke Ball.

"Thanks."


	9. Battling Burgh

The next day, Harry went searching for the Castelia City Pokémon Gym, remembering the young man from Nacrene City who had claimed to be the Gym Leader. He left the still recovering Eevee in the Pokémon Centre. Finding the gym wasn't too difficult but it turned out that Burgh wasn't there.

"I'm guessing he'll probably be at the art museum," said Burgh's assistant, "Come, I'll take you there."

Burgh's assistant was right. The Gym Leader was in the art museum, talking with the curator.

"The picture will be finished by Thursday," Burgh was saying, "It's not one of my most impressive works, but I think you'll like it."

"I always like your art Burgh," said the curator, "That's why I started working here. You take as long as you need."

"Excuse me sir," said Burgh's assistant as the Gym Leader turned to leave, "This young man is requesting a Gym Battle with you."

"Hello," Harry said, "We met in Nacrene City."

"Yes I remember," Burgh said, "Harold isn't it?"

"Harry," Harry corrected him.

"Ah yes," Burgh said, "By the way thank you for the inspiration your Lucario and Purrloin gave me. I hope to see them in battle this afternoon. Come at around three and I'll be ready to accept your challenge."

"Okay," Harry said, "See you then."

* * *

Eevee was feeling much better so she left the Pokémon Centre without waiting to be discharged. As she was still a wild Pokémon, Nurse Joy had no authority over her. She found her feet taking her towards the Pokémon Gym. She Anticipated that something worth seeing would happen there.

Eevee found Harry, Lucario and Burgh outside the gym. She stayed out of sight until the two trainers had entered. Lucario was about to follow but then noticed Eevee, who made a shushing gesture with her paw and jerked her head at the door. Lucario nodded in understanding and entered. Eevee followed before slipping off to find somewhere to watch the battle without the trainer's noticing her.

* * *

Harry had noticed Lucario's brief delay in the doorway but decided not to question it. He had some Aura Sense himself, nowhere near as advanced as Lucario's but still enough to sense that another Pokémon had entered the gym with him. He had a fairly good idea of what that Pokémon was but decided to think about that after winning his battle.

"This battle will be a three-on-three battle," announced Burgh's assistant, "The challenger will be permitted to substitute Pokémon but the Gym Leader will not. Begin!"

"Dwebble let's go!" cried Burgh and a small Pokémon that resembled a hermit crab and was wearing a rock on its back appeared.

" _Dwebble_ _the Rock Inn Pokémon. When it finds a stone of a suitable size, it secretes a liquid from its mouth to open up a hole which it will then live in._ "

"Lucario battle position," Harry said and Lucario stepped forwards and smirked confidently at the tiny Dwebble, "Start with Aura Sphere." Lucario formed a blue ball of Aura and hurled it at Dwebble.

"Protect!" ordered Burgh and Dwebble formed a blue barrier around it's body. Aura Sphere slammed into the barrier and exploded but left Dwebble completely undamaged, "Shell Smash!"

"Dweeebble!" cried Dwebble as it jumped out of its shell and its whole body glowed white and crimson red cracks formed around its entire body. The white energy then broke apart and came off Dwebble's body like pieces of a shell. When the energy cracked and broke apart, Dwebble's body glowed crimson red. Harry and Lucario both raised their eyebrows simultaneously, unsure of what Dwebble had just done.

"Bone Rush!" ordered Harry and Lucario formed a blue bone and twirled it before lunging at Dwebble.

"Dodge it and use X-Scissor!" ordered Burgh and Dwebble reacted with surprising speed, leaping aside to avoid the bone and moving around Lucario before slamming its crossed claws onto the surprised Aura Pokémon's back. Lucario stumbled and lost his balance, tumbling to the ground without any of his usual grace, "Now Dwebble Shell Smash once more!"

"Dweeebble!" cried Dwebble and its body glowed once again and crimson cracks formed around it. The white energy broke apart and came off Dwebble's body and then its body glowed crimson once more.

"Copycat!" ordered Harry and Lucario mimicked Dwebble's move. Neither he nor Harry knew exactly how Shell Smash worked but it obviously increased Dwebble's power and speed. "Now use Aura Sphere!" Harry ordered as Lucario finished Shell Smash. The Aura Pokemon hurled another Aura Sphere, this time blasting Dwebble into the wall.

For a moment it looked like Lucario had won but then Dwebble got to its feet and darted back onto the battlefield, moving even faster than before.

"It's a good thing my Dwebble has the Sturdy Ability," Burgh said, "Use X-Scissor once more!" Dwebble lunged and slammed a much stronger X-Scissor into Lucario, sending the Aura Pokémon sprawling. Lucario rolled onto his feet swiftly, "Now Rock Wrecker!" Dwebble formed a large boulder between its claws and lifted it above its head before hurling it at Lucario. Harry was shocked when the boulder smashed into Lucario and knocked him out.

"Lucario is unable to battle, Dwebble wins!"

"What?" Harry said blankly, "Lucario lost?"

"Obviously you don't know how Shell Smash works," Burgh said, "It increases a Pokémon's Attack, Special Attack and Speed by two levels each time it's used but also decreases their endurance. You should always be aware of exactly how a move works before using it."

"I'll keep that in mind," Harry mumbled as he recalled Lucario, "Purrloin battle position!" Purrloin burst out of her Poke Ball and hissed angrily at Dwebble, "Fake Out!" Purrloin clapped her paws and shot out a shock wave. She raised her eyebrows in surprise as Dwebble toppled over and fainted.

"Dwebble is unable to battle, Purrloin wins!"

"That's okay Dwebble," said Burgh, "Defeating Lucario was an impressive feat. Go Whirlipede!" A strange looking Pokémon that resembled a rolled up centipede or even a car tyre appeared. It had four sharp horn-like feelers with dark grey stripes, with one pair extended upward from its front and the other pointing downward from its lower rear.

" _Whirlipede the Curlipede Pokémon and evolved form of Venipede. It spins its sturdy body like a tyre and smashes into its opponents."_

"Purrloin Rapid Fire Shadow Ball!" Harry ordered and Purrloin shot five Shadow Ball's in quick succession, aiming all of them perfectly towards Whirlipede. All five Shadow Ball's smashed into the strange Pokémon, shrouding it in smoke. "Perfect!" Purrloin looked proud of herself and dropped her guard for a moment.

"Steamroller!" ordered Burgh and Whirlipede jumped into the air and spun its body rapidly. The tips of its antennae glowed white and it rolled out of the smoke and slammed its body into Purrloin, sending her crashing into the wall.

"Purrloin is unable to battle, Whirlipede wins!"

"Purrloin return," Harry said, recalling Purrloin before examining the Whirlipede. Being hit with five Shadow Ball's in a row had worn it down significantly but Harry only had one Pokémon left while Burgh still had two, "Chimchar battle position!" Chimchar somersaulted out of her Poke Ball and landed in front of Whirlipede, "Flame Wheel!"

"Steamroller!" countered Burgh and both Pokémon rolled into each other, creating an explosion which sent them both flying backwards.

"Use Flamethrower!" Harry ordered and Chimchar flipped onto her feet and fired a stream of flames. Whirlipede screeched in pain and toppled over onto it's side.

"Whirlipede is unable to battle, Chimchar wins!"

"Char!" cried Chimchar happily, then winced in pain as she glowed purple for a moment.

"Chimchar?" Harry said and Burgh smirked as he recalled Whirlipede.

"When Chimchar collided with Whirlipede it activated Poison Point," he said, "Let's see if it can defeat my strongest Pokémon in this condition. Go Leavanni!" A thin, yellow, bipedal insectoid Pokémon appeared. It had a broad, split leaf around its large, round head and long antennae that ended in semicircles. It's hands were made of sharp leaves which looked like they'd had a bite taken out of them.

" _Leavanni the Nurturing Pokémon and final form of Sewaddle_ _. Upon finding a small Pokémon, it weaves clothing for it from leaves by using the sticky silk secreted from its mouth_."

"Chimchar use Façade!" Harry ordered and Chimchar glowed yellow, winced as the poison affected her, and threw herself into Leavanni, knocking it off its feet.

"So Chimchar knows Façade," Burgh murmured, "Alright Leavanni, Swords Dance!" Leavanni's leaf like hands glowed bright blue and it spun rapidly on the spot before spreading its arms, causing a blue glow to surround its body for a moment, before fading away.

"Flamethrower!" Harry ordered and Chimchar fired Flamethrower at Leavanni.

"Protect, then X-Scissor!" countered Burgh and Leavanni created a barrier to block the Flamethrower before crossing its arms and lunging at Chimchar, slashing her and sending her crashing to the ground. Chimchar struggled to get up, then collapsed again as poison surged through her body. The flame on her backside Blazed as her Ability activated.

"Chimchar, use Flamethrower again!" Harry ordered and Chimchar fired another Flamethrower, more powerful than the previous two.

"Protect!" ordered Burgh and Leavanni blocked it but Harry had already planned his next move.

"Use Slack Off!" he ordered and Chimchar lay down and glowed white, restoring some of her energy in the couple of seconds she had before Leavanni's barrier disappeared. She hopped to her feet, wincing as she glowed purple again but still able to fight. Blaze was deactivated when Slack Off healed her, but neither Harry nor Chimchar were bothered about that.

"Leavanni use Leaf Storm!" ordered Burgh and Leavanni surrounded its body with a large number of glowing green leaves, which it fired at Chimchar by thrusting its arms in her direction.

"Counter Shield!" Harry ordered and Chimchar jumped into the air and rolled into a Flame Wheel before unleashing Flamethrower from inside the Flame Wheel. The fire whips burned through the Leaf Storm and Chimchar rolled straight into the shocked Leavanni, sending it crashing to the ground. Chimchar landed and winced again from the poison but stood up straight and glared at the fallen Nurturing Pokémon, daring it to get back up. It didn't.

"Leavanni is unable to battle, Chimchar wins. The victory goes to Harry Rowan!"

"Great work Chimchar," Harry cheered, "That Bug and Grass type was no match for you!"

"Chim, Chimchar!" Chimchar cheered and jumped into her trainer's arms. Burgh recalled his Leavanni and sighed.

"I've never seen that Counter Shield technique before," he said, "It was an impressive move."

"Thanks," Harry said, "A friend of mine helped Chimchar develop it. It's great for attacking and defending at the same time."

"So I see," Burgh said, "Well you've earned the Insect Badge." He held out the small badge and Harry took it. "And you've also given me inspiration for my next piece of art. Thank you for that."

"You're welcome," Harry said, "And thanks for the badge. Come on Chimchar, let's get that poison out of your system."

Just after he left the Gym, Harry glanced over his shoulder and used Aura to sense the presence of the Pokémon that had followed Lucario inside. He caught a glimpse of a bushy tail disappearing into an alleyway and smiled slightly as he recognised the brown fur and white tip.

"Char?" asked Chimchar, who was perched on his shoulder.

"I think we've got a stalker," Harry said, nodding to the alley. Chimchar's body suddenly glowed purple and her wince of pain reminded Harry that he needed to get her to the Pokémon Center. He hurried down the street. Eevee poked her head out of the alley and watched him go.

 **I haven't written the next chapter yet so you guys might have to wait a while for an update. I'm not as passionate about writing these Pokémon stories as I used to be. I'm not intending to start a hiatus or give up on this fanfic but at the moment my story writing juices are a bit low.**

 **I feel kind of bad for having Lucario lose to a Dwebble - it's not as bad as Ash's Pikachu getting creamed by an untrained Snivy or Ash losing to an idiot in the Unova League but it still seems a bit embarrassing for Lucario - but neither he nor Harry have ever seen Shell Smash before so I thought it would exemplify that both of them still have a lot to learn.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this Gym battle and thank you for following, favouring and reviewing.**


	10. Reunion

Harry knew Eevee was following him as he left Castelia City. He was relieved to be back on the road, although said road was different from what he was used to. He had travelled through plenty of forests, as well as Mount Coronet back in Sinnoh but this was the first time he had found himself travelling in a desert. And he wasn't in a hurry to repeat the experience. It was scorching hot in the day and there was little shade and no water. At night it was freezing, although when Harry had to sleep, he always used Chimchar's flame to make sure he didn't freeze to death. Lucario was faring better as his species could easily adapt to rough terrain but Harry and his other Pokémon were all suffering.

On top of that, they were lost again.

Eevee sensed that Harry had no idea where he was going and considered returning to Castelia City. However her Anticipation Ability had been bothering her non-stop since she entered the desert. She just knew something big was going to happen out here and due to her unique ability to Anticipate trouble, she felt it was her responsibility to confront it. Harry and his Pokémon would serve as good backup if necessary.

On the beginning of the third day, Eevee was dehydrated and starving. She had been following Harry from a distance, thinking that he didn't realize she was there. She knew Lucario sensed her but hoped he wouldn't say anything. By now though, she was so exhausted, hungry and thirsty that she swallowed her pride and decided to catch up with Harry.

"I knew you'd come eventually," Harry said as Eevee approached, shaking sand out of her fur. Eevee tilted her head curiously, "I knew you were following me the whole time." Eevee glared at Lucario. "Don't blame Lucario. I've got an Aura connection so I sensed you myself. You need food and water, don't you?" Eevee nodded grudgingly. Harry gave her some Pokémon food. Lucario poured some water into a bowel and Eevee lapped it up.

"Eevee," she said and this time her nod was grateful.

"Do you think you can find your way back to Castelia City?" Harry asked. Eevee looked around at the vast expanse of sand. Her ears drooped just a little, "Looks like you're stuck with us."

" _You should try your map, Harry,_ " Lucario said.

"How often has that helped us?" Harry asked but took the map out of his bag anyway, "What do you know? Apparently, there's some old ruins somewhere around here. At the very least, we could get some shelter."

" _Let's go then,_ " Lucario said. Harry nodded and took out a Poke Ball. Eevee tensed.

"You don't trust me?" Harry asked. Eevee paused, seriously thinking about that question. He had rescued her when she was wounded in the sewers and given her food and water. There wasn't really any reason for her not to trust him. She just wasn't a trusting Pokémon.

" _You can walk,_ " Lucario said, " _You must have noticed that I rarely go in my Poke Ball._ "

"Eevee," Eevee said, gesturing for Harry to put away the Poke Ball. Harry hesitated.

"Eevee, I have a Spiritomb who refused to let me put him in a Poke Ball until after he almost got caught by an abusive trainer," he warned, "If you let me catch you, nobody else's Poke Ball will work on you."

Eevee thought for a moment. Finally she shrugged. She didn't have anything to go back to in Castelia City, even if by some miracle she did manage to find her way back. Harry took her response as acceptance and tossed the Poke Ball at her. Eevee allowed it to suck her inside and wobble three times before locking.

"My second Eevee," Harry said and looked at Lucario, "Looks like I'm on my way to becoming an Eeveelution trainer."

* * *

It was dusk when they found the ruins. Relieved to have some shelter from the rapidly dropping temperature, Harry and Lucario went inside. The walls had markings of Unown on them and there were huge pillars holding up the ceiling. There were long, dark passageways lined with unlit torches. Harry let out Chimchar, who rode on his shoulder and blew Flamethrower onto each torch as they passed, providing them with more light. Every so often, they came across large chambers but it was never possible to distinguish what the chambers had been used for.

Harry and Lucario suddenly stopped. Chimchar stopped lighting torches and looked at them curiously.

" _Do you sense that?_ " Lucario asked.

"Yep," Harry said, "We're not alone."

"Rai!" cried a voice and a shape emerged from the shadows. Harry stared in surprise at the Mouse Pokémon. It was one of the last Pokémon one would expect to find in a place like this. It was dark orange, with yellow cheeks and a very long tail. It's cheeks were sparking threateningly but stopped as an expression of recognition came over its face, "Chu?"

" _So you finally evolved,_ " Lucario said, recognising the Pokémon instantly. He smiled at his old friend.

"Raichu," said Raichu and nodded before leaping onto Harry in an excited hug. Chimchar hastily jumped off Harry's shoulder and landed on one of the torches she hadn't lit yet. Raichu was a lot heavier than he had been as a Pikachu so Harry fell painfully onto his backside but Raichu's affection was endearing so he didn't mind too much. Lucario and Chimchar watched in amusement.

"Raichu!" called a familiar voice, "What are you...? Harry? Is that you?"

A teenage boy emerged from one of the chambers, accompanied by a brown skinned girl of about thirteen. The girl had long, thick purple hair and an Axew perched on her head. Harry didn't recognise her but he knew the boy instantly. He was taller and broader than the eleven year old but still not particularly large or muscular. His hat and clothes were different but even in the dim light, Harry recognised him instantly. Raichu hopped off him and went back to his trainer's side, allowing Harry to stand up and greet his friend.

"Hello Ash."

 **Oh yeah. I went there. If you've read my previous Pokémon story, you'll probably notice that I hinted this would happen. It's a risk that the anime writers have never been brave enough to take and most likely never will. I think Pikachu was at his finest in Sinnoh, so when that series ended, it would have been the perfect time for him to finally evolve.**

 **Sorry for the short chapter. I felt I needed to get something up though. I'm planning the Rocket vs Plasma arc but only in my head at the moment. I haven't even started writing it yet. I hope it will be worth the wait because it's likely to be a long one.**


	11. Plasma vs Rocket Part 1

N sat beside his father in their personal jet plane, feeling nervous. The Shadow Triad had successfully stolen the Dark Stone but failed to retrieve the Light Stone. Ghetsis had been slightly annoyed about this, but N felt relieved. Even with his gift for hearing Pokémon, he wasn't confident that he could bond with _two_ Legendaries.

They were headed for the Relic Castle where the summoning of Zekrom was unlikely to be disturbed. N wasn't entirely sure why Ghetsis was so secretive about the location. He had told N that they were summoning Zekrom in the hopes that it would help them free Pokémon but how were they supposed to do that in the middle of the desert?

Ghetsis looked at N out of the corner of his remaining eye. He was a good kid. Too bad he was so naïve. The reason Ghetsis wanted the location of their operation kept secret was so that they could get Zekrom under control without any outside interruptions. Ghetsis knew that N could bond with any Pokémon if he set his mind to it.

* * *

In another jet plane, the boss of Team Rocket, Giovanni, spoke with Doctor Zager, his head scientist.

"Is the mind control device ready, Doctor?" he asked.

"Yes sir," replied Zager, "Reshiram won't be able to resist it."

"And what of the Dark Stone?" asked Giovanni.

"We still don't know where that is," Zager admitted, "But it's probably in the hands of that Team Plasma group. Where they are right now is anyone's guess."

"No matter," Giovanni grunted, "Reshiram will give us all the power we need to conquer this region."

* * *

In the ruined remains of the Relic Castle, Ash grinned when he recognised Harry and strode forwards to shake his hand. Harry gave him a brotherly hug instead, catching Ash off guard as Harry rarely hugged anyone apart from his Pokémon.

"It's great to see you too," Ash said, "I was wondering when I'd bump into you."

"Well we both agreed we would meet up in Unova at some point," Harry said, "I guess being lost has its advantages." He released Ash and looked at the dark skinned girl, "Hello, I'm Harry. Ash and I are old friends."

"I'm Iris," said the girl, "This is Axew." The Dragon type on her head raised a hand in greeting. Harry took out his Pokedex.

" _Axew,_ _the Tusk Pokémon. It marks its territory by making scratch marks on trees with its tusks, which regrow if they fall out_."

"Lucario, Chimchar," Ash said to Harry's Pokémon, "Great to see you guys again too. How's the telepathy coming along, Lucario?"

" _Great,_ " Lucario replied, " _It's still a bit hard to communicate over a long distance but even people without Aura can hear me now._ "

"It's only been a couple of months since we last saw you and you've already gotten the hang of it," Ash commented.

" _I know, I thought it would take much longer too_ ," Lucario said.

"Want to meet my other Pokémon?" Harry asked and released Purrloin, Snivy and Eevee.

"Purrloin, Snivy and another Eevee," Ash said, "Congratulations."

"Thanks," Harry said, "How about you? I see that Pikachu's finally evolved."

"Yeah," Ash said, "That took a bit of getting used too. I can't carry him on my shoulder anymore." He took out five Poke Balls and released Oshawott, Tepig, Swadloon, Tranquil and Palpitoad.

"You still have a lot of luck finding Starter Pokémon I see," Harry commented, looking at Oshawott and Tepig, "What about you Iris? What do you have apart from Axew?"

"These guys," Iris said and let out a Druddigon and Lairon. Harry had seen Lairon back in Sinnoh but Druddigon was unfamiliar.

" _Druddigon the Cave Pokémon. Despite having wings, it is unable to fly, instead using them to warm its body by absorbing sunlight_."

"I have trouble controlling Druddigon," Iris said sadly, "My dream is to become a Dragon Master but Druddigon doesn't like it when I tell him what to do."

"Eevee," said Eevee suddenly and walked away. Everyone looked at her curiously. She glanced back at them and jerked her head in an obvious sign to follow her.

"What's up with Eevee?" asked Iris.

"She Anticipates something," Harry explained, "Ash, you remember how Brock's Croagunk could Anticipate when something bad was going to happen? Eevee's got the same Ability."

"But Eevee can't have Anticipation," Ash said.

"Remember Tobias' Ninetails?" Harry said as they followed Eevee, "Most of her species can't have Drought but she did. Anticipation is Eevee's Hidden Ability."

"Cool," Ash said.

The group went to the entrance to the ruins and stopped as they heard the sound of jet planes. Looking up, they saw a three large jets descending. Harry blinked in surprise when Ghetsis and N stepped out of the first one.

"I know them," he muttered, "That's Ghetsis and his adopted son, N. What the heck are they doing out here?" Then he froze when he saw three black clothed ninja's emerge from the same helicopter. A small group of Team Plasma grunts exited the other two helicopters and walked in two straight lines behind Ghetsis and N. The only three who weren't moving like soldiers were the Shadow Triad, who simply hovered on the edge of the group, watching.

" _We should get back,_ " Lucario muttered. Eevee's ears flattened and she growled, " _There are two many of them._ "

"What's going on?" hissed Iris as the group retreated to one of the smaller chambers. Ash's Palpitoad doused the torches with Hydro Pump. They recalled all their Pokémon except Axew, Raichu and Lucario.

"N and Ghetsis are allied with those three ninja criminals," Harry muttered, "They call themselves the Shadow Triad. And obviously they're all part of a larger criminal group. It's too bad. N seemed like a nice guy."

" _He is,_ " Lucario said, " _Ghetsis isn't but N doesn't know that._ "

The group flattened themselves against the dark walls as Team Plasma passed. Harry was uncomfortably aware that the Shadow Triad would blend into the surroundings much better then he, Ash or Iris did. Fortunately the last Plasma grunt passed their chamber without even glancing inside.

"Do you sense the Shadow Triad, Lucario?" hissed Harry.

" _They went on ahead with Ghetsis and N,_ " Lucario reported.

"Good," Harry muttered.

"We need to find out what they're up to," Ash muttered.

The group found Team Galactic in the only chamber in the ruins that had an open roof. The sun was shining down directly from above. Ghetsis and N stood before an altar in the middle of the chamber. The Shadow Triad stood nearby and the rest of their followers were behind them. The Dark Stone had been placed on the altar.

"Volcarona!" cried something from above. Everyone looked up in shock as a large Moth like Pokémon descended from the sky. It seemed to come from the sun itself. Everybody in the chamber was caught off guard by the mysterious Pokémon's arrival. Ghetsis, N and the Shadow Triad backed away from the altar as the Volcarona descended and hovered above the altar. Harry reached for his Pokedex but Ash grabbed his hand to stop him.

"They don't know we're here yet," he hissed. Harry understood and looked back at the Volcarona.

"Of course," muttered Ghetsis, "I should have known that a Pokémon believed to have descended from the sun would be here."

"Perhaps we should find somewhere else to summon Zekrom?" N suggested.

"No," Ghetsis grunted, "I've waited long enough."

"But this is Volcarona's home," N protested.

"And how many more Pokémon will lose their homes if we don't summon Zekrom?" Ghetsis challenged, "Volcarona is welcome to return once the summoning is complete."

Volcarona didn't like the sound of that. She started spinning on the spot, surrounding herself with flames. Then she stopped spinning, spread her wings so that they resembled the Sun and shot a huge blast of fire at Ghetsis and N. The two of them dived out of the way of Fiery Dance.

"Shadow Triad!" ordered Ghetsis and the trio of ninja's sent out Accelgor, Excavalier and Absol. Volcarona unleashed a deafening Bug Buzz which gave everyone in the chamber a headache. Absol and Accelgor both collapsed from the horrible sound but Excavalier was still conscious.

"Giga Impact!" Excavalier's trainer yelled. Somehow the Pokémon heard him over the deafening sound waves and surrounded itself with a cocoon of purple and yellow energy. Volcarona grunted as Excavalier slammed into her, hard enough to send her flying into the wall.

"Volca!" cried Volcarona, quickly recovering and using Fiery Dance once again. Excavalier shrieked in agony and collapsed. Volcarona flew forwards again. Ghetsis scowled.

"Enough of this," he snarled, "Go Seismitoad!" A bulky Pokémon resembling a toad appeared. Volcarona absorbed sunlight as quickly as possible - the sun was very bright and the chamber's open roof allowed it to stream down on the Sun Pokémon - and fired a huge Solarbeam at Seismitoad, "Protect, then Rain Dance!"

"Seismi!" croaked Seismitoad and created a blue barrier around its body, blocking the Solarbeam before summoning storm clouds which blocked out the sun as it started to rain.

Meanwhile, Iris' Axew had spotted a small shape cowering behind a pillar. Iris didn't even notice as the little Dragon went over to a tiny, bug like Pokémon who was watching his mother defend him from the invaders.

"Ax, Axew?" Axew said and the Pokémon backed away. Axew approached slowly to show he meant no harm, "Axew."

"Larvesta," said the other Pokémon cautiously. Then both Pokémon jumped as Volcarona crashed to the ground nearby, having been knocked down by a Hydro Pump.

"What's this?" Ghetsis said, noticing Larvesta and Axew. Before he could consider the implications of their presence, Volcarona was back in the air and her eyes glowed green. Green energy surrounded Seismitoad and extended to Volcarona as she absorbed its energy with Giga Drain.

"Father!" cried N over the noise, having noticed something that nobody else had. The Dark Stone was glowing. Everyone else was too busy watching the battle to pay attention to the stone.

"Seismitoad Hydro Pump!" roared Ghetsis, getting annoyed by Volcarona's refusal to retreat. Seismitoad was down on one knee by now, severely weakened by the Giga Drain. Nonetheless it still blasted out a huge Hydro Pump but this time Volcarona was ready for it. Darting into the sky, Volcarona shot a beam into the air and the storm clouds cleared away as Sunny Day took effect. Volcarona then blasted out another Solarbeam, "Protect!" Seismitoad blocked the super effective attack but Volcarona immediately followed it with another Fiery Dance. Despite Seismitoad's resistance to Fire type moves, the attack was still strong enough to knock it out. Volcarona spread her wings, daring someone else to challenge her.

Zekrom came to meet her challenge.

By now, Ghetsis was the only one who hadn't noticed the transformation of the Dark Stone. A huge Dragon and Electric type which resembled a tyrannosaurus with wings flew up. Volcarona narrowed her eyes at the Legendary Pokémon.

"Finally," Ghetsis murmured, seeing Zekrom for the first time, "Get rid of that pest, Zekrom!" Zekrom glanced back at him. N looked disapprovingly at his father.

"Father," he said, "Volcarona's just defending her home. Now that Zekrom is with us, perhaps we should just leave." Ghetsis took a breath.

"Perhaps you're right," he said and the light of madness faded from his visible eye as he returned to his usual demeanour, "But you'll need to bond with Zekrom quickly if we are to do that."

"Give me a moment," N said but as he approached, Zekrom shot out white flames and N stepped back to avoid the Dragonbreath. Zekrom then looked back at Volcarona, "Zekrom wants to battle Volcarona."

"Good," Ghetsis said, "We'll get to test Zekrom's power against a powerful opponent." N looked at his father uncertainly. He didn't like Pokémon battles and Ghetsis had always given the impression that he didn't either but now, his father seemed eager to see Zekrom overwhelm Volcarona.

Volcarona started by using Bug Buzz, creating deafening sound waves which hit Zekrom like a physical blow. Zekrom roared in rage and then shot a Draco Meteor into the air. Everyone was forced to take cover as meteor's rained down all over the chamber and several even hit the open roof, causing bits of rubble to fall into the chamber. Volcarona dodged as many as possible but one clipped her wing and then another smashed straight down on top of her. Several more followed suit and Larvesta screamed in horror as he watched his mother get pummelled by the attack.

"What are you doing here?" gasped N, who had sheltered from Draco Meteor only one pillar away from Harry, Ash and Isis.

"Um, watching?" Isis said nervously. They were distracted by Zekrom's roar as the Legendary Pokémon ascended into the sky. The electric generator inside its tail started to spin and glow light blue with electricity. Zekrom then clenched its fists and its body became surrounded in yellow electricity with large yellow lightning bolts coming off it. Zekrom descended and slammed its huge body into Volcarona sending her crashing into a pillar with such force that the stone cracked from the impact. Zekrom roared triumphantly as Volcarona collapsed.

"Now that is power!" cried Ghetsis triumphantly.

"Lord Ghetsis," said the leader of the Shadow Triad, "It seems we have intruders." The three ninja's surrounded Harry, Ash and Iris. Lucario was holding Bone Rush, Raichu's cheeks were sparking threateningly and Axew was glaring at the trio.

"Oh," Ghetsis said, "I wasn't expecting guests."

"Are you talking about us or them?" Harry asked, pointing up to the sky. Everyone looked up as a huge shape appeared, accompanied by a jet plane with the letter R on it. The Pokémon hovering above the castle was a giant white dragon. The creatures face seemed somewhat fox-like and it snarled when it saw Zekrom, who snarled back. There was a strange device attacked to Reshiram's forehead and its eyes were red.

"Ghetsis!" boomed Giovanni, who was riding on Reshiram's back, "It has been far too long!"

"Father, you know this man?" N asked while Ghetsis scowled at Giovanni.

"Yes," he said, "But that's a story for another time. How the hell are you riding that thing, Giovanni?"

"Mind control device," Giovanni said gesturing to the device on Reshiram's forehead, "So much easier than making friends. Now to business. I believe that you wish to rule the Unova Region."

"Rule?" N said, "No he wants to save the Unova Region!"

"Is that what he told you?" Giovanni chuckled, "He lied. All that talk about freeing Pokémon was just a plot to get you to befriend Zekrom so he can use its power to take over the region."

"Is that true?" N asked staring at Ghetsis. Ghetsis' jaw was clenched as he glared up at Giovanni.

"How did you know?" he bellowed.

"I know you," Giovanni said simply, "After all we were once the best of friends, weren't we? Before you decided to take the long route to power."

"Patience was never your strong point," Ghetsis said, "You could never understand the art of complicated planning. It was always get rich quick schemes for you.

"They work," Giovanni said with a shrug.

"Nevertheless, I won't let you interfere with everything I've worked so hard to achieve." Ghetsis yelled, "Go back to your own region!"

"Why can't Team Rocket just stay in Kanto?" Harry muttered to Ash.

"Giovanni's greedy," Ash said, "He'd never be content with just one region."

" _Neither would Ghetsis,_ " Lucario muttered, " _He's just willing to wait longer_."

"Okay," Harry said, "And we've got two legendary Pokémon who look like they want to tear each others throats out. I think all hell is about to break loose."


	12. Plasma vs Rocket Part 2

"Reshiram, use Blue Flare!" ordered Giovanni who was still on Reshiram's back. The Legendary Pokémon roared and fired a powerful stream of light blue flames from its mouth at Zekrom.

"Zekrom..." Ghetsis began but Zekrom was already moving, flying into the air to avoid Blue Flare and surrounding itself with electricity as it prepared to use Bolt Strike. Giovanni opened a Poke Ball and a Gliscor appeared. Giovanni grabbed Gliscor's tail and it lifted him off Reshiram's back just before Zekrom crashed into its counterpart. Gliscor set Giovanni down on the edge of the open roof of the summoning chamber.

"Reshiram, use Dragon Pulse!" ordered Giovanni and Reshiram fired a huge stream of energy which took the shape of a Dragon. The Dragon Pulse closed its fangs on Zekrom and created a huge explosion, sending Zekrom tumbling out of the sky. Team Galactic members scattered to avoid being crushed by the huge Pokémon. Ghetsis was glaring at Giovanni with hatred, then turned to N.

"Do something, boy!" he roared, "Can't you control that thing?"

"Father, befriending Pokémon takes time..." N began.

"We don't have time," snapped Ghetsis then flinched as Reshiram went crashing into the wall so hard that it smashed right through the stone.

"Get up!" roared Giovanni. Zekrom turned to him and snarled but as it lunged, Reshiram shot back out from the hole in the wall, opening its mouth and firing a huge sphere of orange flames. Zekrom roared in pain as the Fusion Flare struck. Giovanni stepped back from the edge of the roof but Zekrom had lost interest in him and was focussing on Reshiram again.

"Zekrom!" bellowed N, "You must destroy the device on Reshiram's head!" Zekrom glanced at him before turning to Reshiram and firing Dragonbreath. A smirk appeared on Reshiram's fox like face as it fired a Dragon Pulse which easily overpowered Dragonbreath and sent Zekrom crashing into the edge of the open roof.

"Lucario, Zekrom needs help," Harry said.

" _I'm on it_ ," Lucario said and aimed Aura Sphere at Reshiram. He fired it and hit Reshiram in the neck which wasn't where he was aiming, " _Oh damn._ "

"You were aiming for the device, right?" Harry said.

" _Yes,_ " Lucario snapped, " _But the device is not a living thing so it has no Aura to lock onto."_ Reshiram roared, outraged that Lucario had dared to interfere with the battle. It fired a huge Fusion Flare at Lucario who dived out of the way.

"Everyone get into the tunnel!" ordered N, gesturing to the opening through which everyone had entered. Everyone rushed into the tunnel, where Reshiram was too large to follow. Most of Team Plasma had already fled. Only N, Ghetsis and the Shadow Triad remained. Giovanni sauntered around the edge of the open roof watching with an amused expression, as if he was witnessing a play. Gliscor glided beside him, also watching as Reshiram thrust its head into the tunnel. Reshiram roared and fired a huge Blue Flare straight down the tunnel, at the fleeing humans.

"Raichu, Light Screen!" Ash yelled and Raichu turned and created Light Screen to shield the group. Even with Light Screen the heat from Blue Flare was intense.

"Quick, in here!" ordered N and the group hurried into a side chamber, where Reshiram had no opening to fire at them through.

"This is not how it was supposed to be!" snarled Ghetsis, "Cowering in an old stone castle while my arch rival takes control of one of the most powerful Pokémon in the world!"

"Father, tell me the truth!" N demanded, "Why did you want to summon Zekrom?"

"Weren't you listening to Giovanni?" Ghetsis snapped.

"Yes but I need to hear it from you," N said.

"Fine," Ghetsis growled, "I didn't lie to you completely. The part about wanting trainers to release their Pokemon was true. But I wanted them to do that so that I would be the only one with Pokémon. Preferably, I would like to control both Reshiram and Zekrom but just one of them should be strong enough to achieve my desires. With Legendary Pokémon under my control, I would be the ruler of Unova and eventually I would expand my empire to other regions. I would become the ruler of the world."

"Well, at least you're not trying to destroy the universe," Harry muttered as he remembered the Team Galactic leader, Cyrus. Then he looked at N who was heartbroken.

"So you were using me," N muttered.

"You were valuable," grunted Ghetsis dismissively, "But Giovanni's given me a better idea."

"The mind control device?" N guessed.

"Exactly," Ghetsis said and strode towards the entrance to the chamber.

"Wait," N said, "You're just going to walk away?"

"I don't need you anymore," Ghetsis replied without looking back. Suddenly there was a rumbling sound. Ghetsis stumbled and one of the Shadow Triad steadied him.

"What's happening?" cried Iris. Axew cowered in her purple hair. Then the ceiling of the chamber was ripped open. Everyone looked up in terror as Reshiram thrust its head through the hole before using Dragon Claw to slash away parts of the roof.

"Lucario really made it angry," Ash muttered.

"You think?" Harry snapped, then saw Lucario forming another Aura Sphere. Reshiram saw too and fired Fusion Flare which blasted through Lucario's Aura Sphere and exploded violently, "Lucario!"

"Raichu use Volt Tackle!" Ash ordered and Raichu charged at Reshiram surrounding itself with electricity and slamming into the huge Pokémon. Reshiram stumbled but then roared and the claws on its wings turned green and it slashed Raichu with a brutal Dragon Claw. Raichu was sent flying through the entrance of the chamber. Harry quickly returned Lucario to the safety of his Poke Ball as the humans followed. This time however, Reshiram simply smashed through the wall. It seemed hell bent on killing them all.

" _Zekrom,_ " N thought, reaching out with his inner voice. The Deep Black Pokémon heard him from the other chamber, in which it was lying, injured, " _Please help us."_

There was another loud roar and Zekrom came diving through the hole Reshiram had ripped in the ceiling. It collided with the other Pokémon and pinned it down. Then it fired Dragonbreath directly at Reshiram's forehead. The Vast White Pokémon roared in pain but the mind control device on its head was destroyed.

* * *

On the roof of the castle, Giovanni received a call from Doctor Zager who was still in the jet plane.

"Boss, we've lost the link to Reshiram! The mind control device must have been destroyed!"

"Damn it!" snarled Giovanni then turned to Gliscor, "Get me back up to the jet." Gliscor nodded and allowed Giovanni to grab its tail before lifting him up towards the jet.

* * *

Despite the destruction of the mind control device, Reshiram was still raging. Zekrom was struggling to restrain it but Reshiram shot a Draco Meteor into the air. The meteors rained down on the castle; Reshiram hadn't been aiming for any specific target. The roof of the castle started to collapse.

"We need to go!" Harry cried, "It's trying to bury us alive!"

The group ran through the collapsing tunnels. Pillars tumbled and the ceiling started to collapse. Suddenly Harry heard a terrified wail.

"Vesta!" screamed Larvesta. Harry turned and saw the little creature cowering behind a pillar. Presumably, its mother was still lying unconscious in the open roofed chamber. Harry hurried back, scooped Larvesta into his arms and made a dash for the exit.

The group made it outside before the castle completely collapsed but when they looked above, they saw that Reshiram and Zekrom were still fighting. Both Pokémon had to be exhausted by now but they were showing no signs of letting up. In the distance, Giovanni's jet was flying away, but nobody noticed. Ghetsis' jets were also flying away in the opposite direction.

"This has to stop," N said, then looked at Harry, "You have an Aura connection, don't you? Can you help me?"

"I don't know," Harry said, "I can only sense things with Aura."

"I think if the three of us work together we can calm them down," Ash suggested.

"It's worth a try," Harry said and he, Ash and N all closed their eyes and reached out, Ash and Harry with Aura while N used his telepathy.

" _Reshiram, Zekrom, this fighting is pointless,_ " N thought, " _Please, you must stop._ "

" _Guys, tearing each other apart won't solve anything,_ " Harry thought.

" _I'm all for Pokémon battles but not if they're battles to the death,_ " Ash thought.

Zekrom and Reshiram heard the trio speaking to them in their minds. They slowly started to relax and their attacks became less vicious, until they stopped altogether.

"I think it's working," Iris said. Axew poked his head cautiously out of her hair and looked up at the two Legendary Dragons. Reshiram and Zekrom descended. Both of them were battered, bruised and exhausted. Reshiram's fur was sticking up and still sparking with leftover electricity from Zekrom's Electric attacks while Zekrom was still scorched from Reshiram's Fire type moves. However, both Pokémon seemed to have calmed down.

"Are you two alright?" asked N. Zekrom and Reshiram nodded, "Thank goodness."

"Where's Ghetsis?" asked Harry, looking around. In the chaos, he hadn't noticed that the Team Plasma leader had disappeared along with the Shadow Triad.

"He must have left," N said. Ash, Iris and Harry weren't quite sure what to do. None of them knew N very well, although Harry knew him a bit better than the others, but it was obvious that Ghetsis' betrayal had really hurt him.

"Larv!" cried Larvesta, squirming out of Harry's arms and running back towards the ruins.

"Volcarona was Larvesta's mother," N said, "She's still in there."

"But she was in the chamber with the open roof," Iris pointed out, "She should be okay."

"We still need to make sure," Ash said. Zekrom and Reshiram looked at each other, then growled and gestured to their backs.

"Really?" Harry said. It would be much easier to scour the ruins from the air than climbing over all the rubble but he was surprised that the two Pokémon who had been trying to kill or at least seriously injure each other just a few minutes ago were now offering to help. The two Dragons nodded so N and Harry climbed on Zekrom while Ash, Raichu and Iris climbed on Reshiram. The two Pokémon ascended and flew above the ruins, looking for any sign of Volcarona. Larvesta was visible below, clambering over the rubble and crying for his mother.

"I don't see her," Ash said.

"I think she might have been buried when the castle collapsed," N mumbled. The two Legendary Pokémon flew down to the one part of the Relic Castle that still had some clear space. The alter on which the Dark Stone had been placed was the only part of it that was completely undamaged.

"Where's Larvesta?" Ash said.

"It'll take him a bit longer to get here," N said.

"I'll go and look for him," Harry said and started climbing over rubble, looking for Larvesta while the others searched for Volcarona.

Harry found Larvesta scouring the ruins, still crying out desperately. He felt sorry for the little creature. Larvesta noticed him approaching.

"The others are looking for your mum," Harry said, "I'll take you to them."

Larvesta hesitated but reasoned that he could trust Harry since he had carried him out of the collapsing castle. He allowed Harry to pick him up and take him back to the place where his mother had fought Absol, Accelgor, Excavalier, Seismitoad and Zekrom. Larvesta tried to reassure himself that his mother was okay. She had defeated four Pokémon in a row and even caused a bit of damage to a Legendary Pokémon. Larvesta hoped that he would be as strong as her one day.

Harry found the others who were using their Pokémon to dig through the rubble. Iris' Druddigon and Lairon were shifting rocks out of the way and even Zekrom and Reshiram were helping.

"Drud!" roared Druddigon, shifting a massive rock out of the way and finding the top half of Volcarona's body underneath it. Lairon used Iron Head to shatter the stone on the bottom half of her body and Druddigon dragged Volcarona out.

"Vesta!" cried Larvesta and ran towards his mother. She wasn't moving, "Vesta?" Larvesta nudged her. She didn't respond. Larvesta started to panic. He blew an Ember on her and tackled her with Flame Charge, desperately trying to get her to wake up.

"Is she...?" Iris asked. N looked at the body sadly.

"She's dead," he said. Reshiram stared at the ground guiltily. Its Draco Meteor had brought the castle crashing down. Zekrom felt guilty too since it was the one who had knocked Volcarona out and made her unable to fly to safety.

"Zekrom and Reshiram are basically gods," Harry said turning to the two Legendaries, "Can't you use your powers to bring her back?"

"Don't be a little kid," Iris snapped through the tears forming in her eyes, "Reshiram and Zekrom's powers don't work like that." Reshiram and Zekrom acknowledged that she was right by bowing their heads.

"Vesta!" screamed Larvesta turning to Reshiram and Zekrom, "Larvesta!" He surrounded himself in flames and slammed into Reshiram. The Vast White Pokémon just stood still and looked down at him sadly as Larvesta vented by constantly tackling it with Flame Charge. If Reshiram even felt the blows, it gave no sign of it. Larvesta turned to Zekrom and attacked the Deep Black Pokémon instead, determined to at least hurt one of the Pokémon who had killed his mother. Zekrom just stood still and allowed Larvesta to let out his pain.

Finally, Larvesta exhausted himself and collapsed, wailing. Harry knelt down and picked him up. Larvesta flailed around in his arms and Harry let go with a yelp of pain as he activated Flame Body. Larvesta fell to the ground and curled into a ball, still sobbing hysterically. N knelt beside him.

" _I'm sorry,_ " N said with his telepathic voice, " _I never meant for anyone, human or Pokémon to get hurt._ " He picked Larvesta up carefully. Larvesta was too tired to struggle or even use Flame Body again so he just continued crying. N spoke to everyone else out loud, "I see now that Ghetsis never cared about people or Pokémon. All he cared about was power. It shames me that I called him father."

"It's not your fault," Ash said, "He raised you."

"Yeah, it must be hard to find out your life has been a lie," Harry said.

"At least you didn't turn out to be crazy like him," Iris added. N smiled.

"Thank you," he said, then looked at the two Legendaries who were still watching silently, "Zekrom, Reshiram, meeting you was or at least would have been the greatest event of my life, had it not been marred by treachery and tragedy. I hope our paths cross again someday."

"We do too," Ash said. Zekrom and Reshiram nodded, then soared away. The group watched until they were specks in the sky.

"I think I should be alone for a while," N said, "I need to decide what to do now."

"I guess we'll see you around then," Harry said.

"Farewell," N said as Harry, Ash and Iris turned to leave.

"Larv!" cried Larvesta and they turned back. Larvesta scurried after them and looked up at Harry with a determined expression. There was nothing left for him here. He wanted to make his mother proud and to do that, he needed to travel and grow stronger. He had seen that N was not a violent person but right now, Larvesta wanted to unleash his anger on Team Galactic. He couldn't do that if he was stuck here for the rest of his life.

"I think Larvesta wants to come too," Ash said. Harry knelt down and hesitantly reached out.

"You won't burn me this time, right?" he said. Larvesta shook his head and Harry picked him up, "Of course you can come. We'll make your mum's spirit proud." Larvesta managed a weak smile.

 **I finally got this one finished and I hope it's satisfactory. I'm sorry I didn't give Team Rocket much to do in this chapter - I guess the title is a bit misleading as this was more Zekrom vs Reshiram than Plasma vs Rocket - but I was trying to fit in quite a lot. I'm not sure how long it will be before I update again. I haven't even started Chapter 13 yet.**


	13. Meetings in Nimbasa City

It took Harry, Ash and Iris two days to find their way out of the desert. Harry was the only one with a map and naturally, his lack of map-reading skills caused them to get lost a couple of times. They were exhausted, hungry and thirsty by the time they saw buildings in the distance.

"Is that a mirage?" Iris asked, pointing to the buildings.

"I really hope not," Harry moaned.

" _It's not,_ " Lucario said, closing his eyes and extending his Aura senses, " _Not unless my Aura is hallucinating._ " He glanced back at the others, " _Race you._ "

"You're kidding, right?" Harry said, "Do you really think I can ride my bike through all this sand?"

"Rai, Raichu," Raichu said to Lucario, getting down on all fours. Lucario grinned as he noticed Raichu wanted to race.

"You two wait for us at the edge of the city," Ash said, "We might be a while."

" _Okay,_ " Lucario said, " _One, two, three, go_!" He and Raichu took off, using Quick Attack to increase their speed as they ran towards the city.

* * *

As promised, Lucario and Raichu were waiting on the edge of the city when, Harry, Ash and Iris finally arrived. Lucario was swinging Bone Rush around, jabbing and sweeping, while Raichu watched. The sun was setting and the streets where nowhere near as crowded as Castelia City. A few people did look curiously at Lucario and Raichu as they passed, however.

"Who won?" Harry asked.

" _I did_ ," Lucario said, " _Watch this_." With incredible speed, Lucario shot towards the nearest building, touched it, then darted back. He moved so fast that he was barely visible.

"Cool," Ash said, "Lucario learned ExtremeSpeed."

"Raichu," Raichu pouted childishly, annoyed that Lucario had learned a new move in the middle of their race.

" _It makes it much easier to move through sand too,_ " Lucario informed them.

"That's good," Harry said tiredly, "But right now, I just want to find a comfortable place to sleep."

"Let's find the Pokémon Centre then," Iris said.

* * *

The group piled into a rented bedroom in the Pokémon Center, exhausted. Lucario looked down at them with amusement. Raichu sparked his cheeks threateningly and Lucario's amused expression vanished.

" _You lot need more exercise,"_ he commented.

"Not everyone has your species' resilience, buddy," Harry pointed out as he sat on his bed. He glanced at Iris, "Um, are you okay with sharing a room with two boys?"

"Sure," Iris said cheerfully and hopped into bed. Axew curled up beside her.

"There's a gym here, isn't there?" Ash said.

"Yeah," Harry said taking out a leaflet he had taken from the front desk, "Apparently the Gym Leader's called Elesa. She's a model and she likes Electric types." He showed Ash a picture of a blonde haired woman wearing a stylish blouse.

"I bet she'll like Raichu, then," Ash said, glancing over at his partner who was stretched out on the bed. Although larger than he was as a Pikachu, Raichu was still small enough for Ash to be able to fit into the bed.

"Yeah," Harry said, "Well, I'm beat. Night."

* * *

The next day, the trio headed to the gym, hoping to meet Elesa. On the way, Harry noticed a familiar, dark haired young man walking away from the gym. It took a moment for Harry to remember where he'd seen him before.

"Jeremy!" he called, recalling his name.

"Oh hello," Jeremy said, "Harry, right?"

"Yeah," Harry replied, "And this is Ash and Iris. Guys, Jeremy's Marowak trained Lucario to use Bone Rush on the boat ride here."

"That's pretty cool," Ash said, "Have you just battled Elesa?"

"Yep," Jeremy said proudly, "I won." He showed them the Bolt Badge.

"So I guess her Pokémon are too tired to battle right now," Harry assumed.

"Yeah," Jeremy replied, "Plus, she's doing a private modelling shoot this afternoon, so she won't be able to have another battle until tomorrow anyway."

"That's disappointing," Harry muttered, "Ash and I both want to battle her."

"She'll go crazy when she sees your Raichu," Jeremy told Ash, "By the way, I know where the shoot is taking place. Although come to think of it, you," he gestured at Harry, "and purple hair might be too young to see it."

"My name's Iris," grumbled Iris and Axew pouted from his perch on her head.

"Why would we be too young?" asked Harry, "Isn't she just parading around in fancy clothes?"

"No, she's doing something else," Jeremy said.

"What?" Harry said curiously.

"Never mind," Jeremy said, "I heard a new gym recently opened in Black City. I'm heading there next."

"Could you at least tell us where Elesa is now?" asked Ash.

"Okay," Jeremy said, "But only so you can schedule a match with her."

* * *

Elesa's modelling shoot was in a secluded part of the city. There was a fairly small studio sitting away from the more crowded area's. There was also a security guard outside the studio.

"Sorry, nobody's allowed in right now," said the guard when the group approached.

"I just want to inform Elesa that she's got two new challengers," Jeremy told him.

"I'll tell her," the guard promised, "But I'm afraid that even if this were not a private shoot, it would be inappropriate for your younger friends to see it."

"Why?" asked Harry.

"Because it's adult material," the guard told him. Harry, Ash and Iris all looked at Jeremy who shrugged.

"Sorry," he said, "I've got a fairly good idea of what Elesa's doing in there but only people my age or older are legally allowed to see it."

"Damn," Harry muttered. The guard raised an eyebrow at his choice of word but didn't comment.

"I have said I will pass on your message," he said, "Now please leave."

"Come on," Jeremy said, "Lunch is on me."

* * *

The foursome ate at a picnic table in the Nimbasa City park. On the edge of the park was a huge Ferris Wheel. As well as his Marowak, Jeremy also revealed that he owned a Mandibuzz, a Bravairy, a Gurdurr and a Castform. Harry looked up the four Pokemon he hadn't seen whilst eating.

" _Mandibuzz_ _the Bone Vulture Pokémon and the evolved form of Vullaby. Mandibuzz swoops down from the sky to attack her prey using her sharp, powerful claws and beak_."

" _Braviary_ _the Valiant Pokémon and the evolved form of Rufflet. Called "soldiers of the sky," Braviary fights relentlessly to protect his friends. If he has many scars, he earns more respect from his comrades._

" _Gurdurr the Muscular Pokémon and the evolved form of Timburr. Gurdurr trains its muscles by carrying a steel beam. With its amazing strength, even professional wrestlers can't move it._ "

" _Castform the Weather Pokémon. Castform's appearance changes with the weather and it uses the power of nature to protect its tiny body."_

"These guys look pretty tough," Ash noted looking around at Jeremy's team.

"Thanks," Jeremy replied, "They need to be if I'm going to have a chance to battle the Elite 4."

"Ash and I intend to challenge the Elite 4 too," Harry replied.

"Well there can only be one winner of the Unova League," Jeremy replied, "By the way, how's your Lucario's training coming along?"

"Good," Harry said, "He learned ExtremeSpeed in a race with Ash's Raichu just yesterday."

"I'd like to see how much his Bone Rush has improved too," Jeremy said, then nodded to Mandibuzz, "Mandibuzz is trying to learn it as well."

"How can Mandibuzz use Bone Rush without hands?" Iris asked. Mandibuzz ruffled her feathers indignantly and flew up before forming a long bone in her talons. She spun it and bashed Iris on the head with the bone, "Ow!"

"Sorry," Jeremy said, "Mandibuzz hates it if people doubt her skills."

"Buzz," Mandibuzz said and dissipated the bone before going back to her Pokémon food. Bravairy looked over at Iris with an amused look in his eye while she rubbed her head.

"Is she as good as Marowak?" Harry asked.

"Not yet," Jeremy said, "But Marowak's been practicing with bones his whole life. Mandibuzz only started after she evolved."

"So did Lucario," Harry said, looking over at Lucario who had finished eating and was practicing Bone Rush with Marowak. Marowak was showing Lucario how he should move his feet whilst wielding the bone. Mandibuzz was frowning as she had noticed that Lucario was using Bone Rush better than she did.

"Lucario's good," Jeremy said, "But he needs to improve his footwork."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Marowak, Low Kick!" called Jeremy and Marowak obediently swept Lucario's legs out from under him, jumped on him and pinned him down with his bone, "That's why."

"Well, Lucario's usually pretty graceful," Harry said, "Mastering footwork shouldn't be too hard." Marowak jumped off Lucario who jumped back onto his feet.

"We should do some training too," Ash said to Raichu, "It would be great if you learned how to use Focus Blast."

"Rai, Rai," Raichu nodded in agreement.

"I think I'll go ride the Ferris Wheel," Iris announced, "I'll meet you guys back here."

"Okay, see you," Harry said. Iris recalled Druddigon and Lairon and Axew jumped into her hair as she left the boys alone. Ash and Raichu moved away from Harry and Jeremy to start practicing Focus Blast.

Harry watched Lucario swing his bone, trying his best to mimic Marowak's movements as the Bone Keeper Pokémon demonstrated them to him. Marowak smiled encouragingly every time Lucario pulled off a move flawlessly. Harry then turned to Snivy who was using a combination of Cut and Leaf Blade to slice at Purrloin, who was dodging every one of them.

"Snivy, you could just use Glare you know," Harry called. Snivy attempted to do so. Purrloin didn't react. Snivy looked at Harry as if to say "See?" and Harry realized she had tried that already.

"Your Purrloin has Limber as her Ability," Jeremy told Harry, "It allows complete immunity to paralysis."

"Huh, I should have realized that sooner," Harry muttered.

"It would be useful against Elesa," Jeremy informed him, "Two of her Pokémon like paralyzing their opponents."

"Thanks for the heads up," Harry said, then turned to Eevee who had picked a fight with Jeremy's Gurdurr and was dodging every single one of the Muscular Pokémon's Hammer Arms. Harry thought about intervening but as he stepped forwards, Jeremy shook his head.

"It's okay," he said, "I saw Eevee ask Gurdurr to be its sparring partner. He's not going out of his way to hurt it."

"Her," Harry corrected him.

"Sorry," Jeremy said. Harry looked for his two Fire type Pokémon and saw Larvesta finish his Pokémon food.

"Hey Larvesta, where's Chimchar?" Harry asked.

"Larv!" Larvesta replied and jerked his head towards the trees, where Chimchar was swinging around playfully.

"Chimchar, I need you to help Larvesta gain more firepower," Harry called and Chimchar obediently stopped swinging and jumped onto her trainer's shoulder, "We should start with Flamethrower."

"Chimchar," Chimchar agreed and jumped down to Larvesta before demonstrating Flamethrower by firing it into the air. Larvesta tried to copy her but only got Ember. Chimchar continued to demonstrate and Larvesta continued trying to copy her.

"Purr," yelped Purrloin as Snivy finally managed to nick her with Leaf Blade. Snivy had her backed up against a tree and was smirking triumphantly.

"Good work, Snivy," Harry called and Snivy stepped back, allowing Purrloin to saunter past her. Purrloin suddenly turned and attacked her with Slash only for Snivy to catch her with Vine Whip and toss her right into the tree.

"Snivy, Snivy," Snivy said, waving a finger disapprovingly at Purrloin for the sneak attack. Purrloin pouted, then sauntered over to watch Lucario and Marowak.

"Larv!" cried Larvesta excitedly and turned to Harry, "Larv, Larv!" Harry smiled at the young Pokémon's enthusiasm. Larvesta made sure he was watching before spitting a stream of fire into the air. It wasn't as strong as Chimchar's Flamethrower, but it was a Flamethrower nonetheless.

"Well done," Harry said, "Now you just need to work on making it stronger."

"Vesta," Larvesta nodded excitedly and continued spitting flames. Chimchar watched, then punched the ground. Everybody was taken by surprise as flames erupted from the ground and surrounded Jeremy's Castform, who quickly used Rain Dance to put them out. Larvesta frowned as Rain Dance also extinguished his own Flamethrower, so Castform retuned the weather to normal once Chimchar's new attack was neutralized.

"What was that?" Harry asked.

"Your Chimchar learned Fire Pledge," Jeremy explained, "It's a move that only Fire type Starter Pokémon can use."

"So Larvesta can't use it?" Harry said, glancing at his youngest Pokémon.

"No," Jeremy said.

"Eevee!" cried Eevee as she dodged a blow from the large metal beam Gurdurr was holding, landed on said beam and ran up it before bouncing off Gurdurr's head and shooting Swift at him from behind, knocking him off his feet. Jeremy raised an eyebrow as Eevee landed, smirking slightly as the Muscular Pokémon picked himself up.

"Eevee's got guts," he said, "Not many Normal types would face my Gurdurr head on like that."

"My Eevee's no ordinary Eevee," Harry said.

"Eevee," Eevee said which most likely meant, "Damn right." Then a blue orb knocked her off her feet.

"What the!" Harry yelped and Eevee turned, her fur bristling furiously as she looked for her attacker.

"Sorry!" Ash called, "Raichu's Focus Blast went out of control!"

"From all the way over there?" Harry called back. Raichu scratched the back of his head, looking slightly embarrassed. Eevee scowled at him but relaxed as she knew he hadn't deliberately tried to attack her.

"Focus Blast is a chaotic attack," Jeremy said, "It takes a lot of training to be able to aim it properly. Although I don't know why that Focus Blast was blue."

"Oh that's Raichu's Aura," Harry said, "Ash and I both have it and so do our Starter Pokémon. Actually, Aura's part of the reason my Lucario can speak telepathically."

"I see," Jeremy said, "I wish I had that ability."

It was late afternoon when they ended their training session. Iris returned and had to duck as Raichu accidentally shot Focus Blast at her. Axew disappeared into her hair in fright.

"Sorry, sorry!" Ash cried before Iris could yell at him, "Raichu can't control it yet! I think that's enough for today, buddy."

"Rai, Rai," Raichu agreed.

"You guys should take a break too," Harry said to his own Pokémon and they all nodded in agreement, except Purrloin who had stopped practicing ten minutes ago and was now curled up under a tree. Snivy shot Purrloin a disapproving look but the Devious Pokémon paid no attention. She just stretched and sauntered over to Lucario, who was crossing his bone with Marowak's just like they had when they first met.

"This has been nice," Jeremy said, "But I've stayed in this city longer than I planned. I'd better get going."

"It's a bit late," Iris pointed out, looking at the sun.

"Blimey, it is," Jeremy said looking surprised, "This training session was a lot longer than I thought."

"Worth it though," Harry said as he sat with Larvesta in his lap and Chimchar on his shoulder. Larvesta nodded and spat out another Flamethrower happily.

"Indeed," Jeremy said, "Well I have no problem travelling at night. Everyone return!" His Pokémon lined up obediently in front of him and he recalled each of them, "I'll see you around. Good luck against Elesa."

"Thanks," Ash said.

"It was nice to see you again," Harry told him.

"And you," Jeremy said, "Plus it was nice to meet your friends. Bye." He strode away.

"Well all that training's made me hungry," Ash said, "Anyone know where the best restaurant in town is?"

"I do," Iris said. Ash and Harry recalled five out of six of their Pokémon and Iris lead them to the restaurant. Once they arrived they saw a tall, slim blonde woman leave the restaurant. Harry recognised her instantly from the magazine.

"Guess Elesa finished her photo shoot," he said.

"Excuse me!" Ash called and hurried up to Elesa. She turned and noticed Raichu before seeing Ash.

"Aw how cute," she said, "I've always wanted a Raichu. And who might you be?"

"I'm Ash from Kanto," Ash said, "I would like to schedule a gym battle for tomorrow."

"Of course," Elesa said, "I've never battled a Raichu before."

"I'd also like to challenge you," Harry said, "My name's Harry and I'm from Sinnoh. And are those rope burns on your wrists?" Elesa blinked and looked down at her wrists which had been chaffed slightly from where ropes had rubbed against them. She chuckled nervously. The kid was observant but too young to know the details of what she'd been doing that afternoon.

"Yes they are," she said, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

"Why do you have those?" Iris asked innocently.

"It was part of my latest photo shoot," Elesa mumbled.

"So that included you being tied up?" Harry asked, looking confused, "Isn't that generally a bad thing?"

"Not in my line of work," Elesa said, "Modelling isn't just about wearing nice clothes."

"Okay," Harry said slowly, "Whenever I've seen a woman tied up before, they didn't seem happy about it." He thought back to Fennel during his first encounter with the Shadow Triad and the Officer Jenny who had been bound and gagged when Team Galactic stole the Lustrous Orb.

"Well I... kind of enjoy it," Elesa muttered, "Anyway, I'll be waiting for your challenges." Suddenly all the awkwardness was gone as she swept gracefully away. Harry and Iris looked at Ash, wondering what he thought about the Gym Leader. Ash just shrugged and led them into the restaurant.


	14. Electrifying Gym Battles

The next day was Ash's battle with Elesa. Her gym was crowded with fans, men, women and children alike. Harry and Iris had front row seats. A few of the men whistled when Elesa stepped elegantly onto her side of the battlefield.

"Alright Ash!" Elesa called, "Let's make this a dazzling battle!"

"I plan to," Ash said.

"Zebstrika, the bright light's on you!" cried Elesa and a Zebra like Pokémon appeared. In the stands, Harry took out his pokedex.

" _Zebstrika the Thunderbolt Pokémon and evolved form of Blitzle._ _It can be dangerous when angry, shooting lightning in all directions from its mane_."

"Palpitoad, I choose you!" Ash yelled and released the Water and Ground type.

"Begin!" cried the referee.

"Palpitoad use Mud Bomb!" ordered Ash and Palpitoad stuck out his long tongue and swung it, sending balls of mud towards Zebstrika.

"Light Screen!" ordered Elesa and Zebstrika created a yellow barrier in front of her body. Mud Bomb exploded against Light Screen and Zebstrika snorted at the impact but shrugged it off, "Now use Flame Charge!" Zebstrika whinnied and surrounded herself with fire before charging forwards and slamming into Palpitoad, knocking him off his feet, "Double Kick!" Palpitoad jumped back onto his feet, only to get kicked twice by Zebstrika's hard hooves, first in the chest, then in the face.

"Palpitoad Supersonic!" ordered Ash and Palpitoad opened his mouth and shot sound waves which washed over Zebstrika, confusing it. Zebstrika whinnied, then surrounded herself with electricity and charged at the wall with Wild Charge. She smashed into the wall hard and several people in the stands winced at the impact, "Good job now Hydro Pump!"

"Palpitoad!" cried Palpitoad and fired a powerful stream of water but Light Screen appeared to halve the damage. Zebstrika ignored Hydro Pump and kept bashing her head on the wall.

"Come on, Zebstrika!" cried Elesa, "Snap out of it!" Zebstrika banged her head one more time, then stepped back. She shook her head and turned to Palpitoad, looking angry, "Flame Charge!"

"Dodge it!" Ash shouted and to Elesa's surprise, Palpitoad actually did manage to dodge the Flame Charge. She quickly recovered and called out another attack.

"Double Kick!" she shouted. Now that Zebstrika's rear end was facing Palpitoad, she was in the perfect position for another Double Kick, which knocked Palpitoad to the ground.

"Palpitoad, Hydro Pump!" Ash ordered.

"Giga Impact!" Elesa countered. Palpitoad jumped upright and squirted another Hydro Pump but Light Screen reappeared to weaken it while Zebstrika surrounded herself with purple and yellow energy. She charged straight through the Hydro Pump and smashed into Palpitoad, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Palpitoad is unable to battle, Zebstrika wins!" cried the referee.

"Great job Palpitoad," Ash said and recalled his Pokémon before noticing Light Screen appear and then fade to signify it had worn off. On top of that, Zebstrika had to recharge from Giga Impact, "Raichu you're up!" Raichu nodded and jumped onto the battlefield. "Use Focus Blast!" Raichu formed a blue orb between his paws and threw it at Zebstrika. Zebstrika braced herself but the Focus Blast veered off course and instead of hitting her, it slammed into the wall, "Aw man."

"Raichu's Focus Blast needs more work," Elesa commented, "Use Flame Charge!" By now Zebstrika had used two Flame Charges so this third one increased her speed even further. She shot towards Raichu.

"Dodge it!" Ash cried and Raichu barely managed to leap out of the way.

"Double Kick!" Elesa ordered and Zebstrika skidded to a halt and smashed both hind legs into Raichu one after the other.

"Raichu use Quick Attack!" Ash ordered and Raichu was on his feet in an instant. He darted forwards and slammed into Zebstrika.

"Flame Charge!" ordered Elesa and by this time, Zebstrika's Flame Charge landed and sent Raichu sprawling, "Now use Giga Impact!"

"Raichu spin!" Ash ordered and Raichu jumped straight towards Zebstrika before spinning in the air, allowing the wind pressure to take him past Zebstrika unscathed.

"What?" gasped Elesa, "How did it do that?"

"Wind pressure," Ash said smugly, "A little trick a friend taught me. Raichu, Iron Tail!" Raichu's long tail turned to iron and he smashed it onto Zebstrika's head, knocking her out.

"Zebstrika is unable to battle, Raichu wins!"

"You shone brightly, Zebstrika," said Elesa proudly as she recalled her Pokémon, "Emolga, the bright light's on you!" A cute little Pokémon that looked like a flying squirrel appeared.

" _Emolga the Sky Squirrel Pokémon. It glides on its outstretched membrane while shocking foes with the electricity stored in the pouches on its cheeks._ "

"Raichu use Thunderbolt!" Ash ordered and Raichu unleashed a huge Thunderbolt which was at least as powerful as his Thunder had been when he was a Pikachu.

"Dodge it and use Attract!" ordered Elesa and Emolga glided away from the Thunderbolt before winking and shooting pink hearts at Raichu. Raichu's eyes turned into hearts and he started drooling, "Now use Acrobatics!" Emolga dived, leaving behind after-images of herself before ramming into Raichu and knocking him off his feet.

"Raichu return!" Ash called but one of the problems about never putting Raichu in a Poke Ball was that he couldn't simply recall him to heal Attract. Raichu completely ignored him and watched Emolga glide overhead.

" _Even I would go in a Poke Ball in this situation,_ " Lucario said in the stands.

"Acrobatics!" cried Elesa and Emolga rammed into Raichu over and over again.

"Raichu, snap out of it!" Ash yelled, "Come on buddy!" Emolga slammed into Raichu yet again and he crashed to the ground. Suddenly the Sky Squirrel Pokemon didn't seem so cute anymore.

"Rai, Rai!" Raichu cried, the hearts disappearing from his eyes.

"Emolga, Acrobatics again!" ordered Elesa and Emolga dived towards Raichu yet again.

"Pin it down with your tail!" Ash ordered and Raichu stepped aside before slamming the lightning shaped tip of his tail down on Emolga, trapping her between the zigzag. Emolga yelped in surprise and started struggling but Raichu was bigger and stronger than she was and kept her pinned to the ground, "Use Thunderbolt!"

"RaaaaiCHUUU!" cried Raichu, unleashing a massive Thunderbolt at point blank range. Harry had a sudden sense of deja-vu as he remembered seeing Paul's Electivire use a very similar technique against Ash's Infernape back in the Sinnoh region. Once the Thunderbolt ended, Emolga slumped to the ground.

"Emolga is unable to battle, Raichu wins."

"Wow!" said Elesa looking impressed, "None of my Pokémon have ever been knocked out with just a single Electric attack. Your Raichu is really strong." She recalled Emolga and smiled at the Poke Ball, "You're still a shining star to me, Emolga. Get some rest."

"Great job, Raichu," Ash said, "Just one more to go."

"Tynamo, the bright light's on you!" Elesa cried and a tiny eel like Pokémon that levitated in the air appeared. Raichu stared at the puny looking Pokémon in surprise. This was Elesa's final choice? Harry scanned the tiny creature in the stands.

" _Tynamo the EleFish Pokémon. It_ _usually lives in groups, and has an electricity-generating organ which discharges when in distress_."

"Raichu use Thunderbolt!" Ash ordered and Raichu fired an electrical blast at Tynamo.

"Tackle!" ordered Elesa and Tynamo shot forwards with astonishing speed, dodging the Thunderbolt easily and smashing right into Raichu's stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

"Bloody hell!" Harry yelped then covered his mouth as several people, including Iris, glared at him.

"Raichu, Quick Attack!" ordered Ash and Raichu picked himself up and slammed into Tynamo sending the tiny Pokémon flying.

"Tynamo, Thunder Wave!" ordered Elesa and Tynamo shot out a weak jolt of blue electricity, paralyzing Raichu, "Now use Tackle!" Tynamo shot towards the paralyzed Raichu and this time collided with his face, sending him skidding across the ground. He slammed his head into the wall and fainted.

"Raichu is unable to battle, Tynamo wins."

"Great work, Tynamo!" Elesa cried and Tynamo giggled happily.

"That's okay Raichu, you did a great job," Ash said as he picked up his defeated Pokémon. Although much heavier than a Pikachu, Raichu was still light enough for Ash to carry. He laid Raichu down beside him before straightening up and sending out his last Pokemon, "Swadloon, I choose you!"

"Tynamo use Tackle!" ordered Elesa and Tynamo shot forwards and slammed into Swadloon who skidded backwards from the impact.

"Swadloon, Razor Leaf!" ordered Ash. The two leaves on Swadloon's head became outlined in light green and he fired multiple leaves from the leaves at Tynamo.

"Tackle!" called Elesa and Tynamo weaved between the leaves without suffering a scratch before slamming into Swadloon again.

"Swadloon use your Tackle!" ordered Ash and Swadloon tried to give Tynamo a taste of her own medicine.

"Dodge then Tackle again!" Elesa ordered and Tynamo shot up to dodge Swadloon, twisted around and dived right back down, landing in Swadloon's head before shooting away again.

"Swadloon, String Shot!" Ash shouted and Swadloon shot silky string from his mouth which wrapped around Tynamo's entire body, even covering her eyes, "Now Razor Leaf!"

"Let it cut the strings and use Tackle again!" Elesa ordered and this time, Tynamo allowed the attack to hit her, wincing in pain as Razor Leaf cut the String Shot off her body, before charging forwards and slamming into Swadloon for the fourth time.

"Swadloon, Energy Ball!" Ash ordered and Swadloon shot an orb of green energy from his mouth.

"Dodge and Tackle it again!" Elesa cried and Tynamo ascended above the Energy Ball before diving towards Swadloon. Swadloon reacted on instinct, creating a green barrier around his body. Tynamo slammed into the barrier and bounced right off it.

"That was Protect," Ash muttered with a grin but there was no time to celebrate, "Swadloon, Tackle it right back!" Swadloon lunged towards Tynamo who was stunned for just a moment from slamming into Protect. A moment was all Swadloon needed to ram his body into the EleFish Pokémon, sending her flying into the wall.

"Tynamo is unable to battle, Swadloon wins. The victor is Ash from Kanto!"

"Alright!" Ash cheered, "Way to go, Swadloon!"

"Congratulations Ash," Elesa said, gliding across the battlefield after recalling Tynamo, "That was a great battle. Keep it up and you'll become a star. The Bolt Badge is yours." She held out a badge shaped like a bolt of lightning.

"Thanks Elesa," said Ash then held it up to the cheering crowd, "I got the Bolt Badge!"

* * *

The following day, Harry stood in the same place where Ash had been while Ash sat in the same place Harry had been. Like before, there was a crowd. People loved watching Elesa's battles as much as her modelling shows.

"Emolga, the bright light's on you!" cried Elesa and Emolga appeared and perched on Elesa's arm.

"Purrloin, battle position!" Harry cried and Purrloin appeared.

"Begin!" cried the referee.

"Purrloin use Fake Out!" Harry ordered and Purrloin clapped her paws together, shooting out a shock wave which caused Emolga to flinch, "Now use Assist!" Purrloin formed a white orb on the end of her paw and shot Vine Whip from the orb. The vines wrapped around Emolga and Purrloin used them to throw her into the wall.

"Emolga, use Attract!" Elesa called and Emolga glided back over the battlefield and winked before shooting pink hearts at Purrloin. The Devious Pokemon smirked as the hearts touched her and did absolutely nothing, "So it's female. In that case, Thunder Wave!"

"Emolga!" cried Emolga and shot out a weak jolt of blue electricity. Purrloin stretched lazily as the Thunder Wave hit her.

"Female and her ability is Limber," Harry said smugly, "Emolga's status moves won't work at all. Rapid Fire Shadow Ball!" Purrloin blasted a barrage of Shadow Balls towards Emolga.

"Acrobatics!" cried Elesa and Emolga darted between the Shadow Balls and rammed into Purrloin, knocking her off her feet. "Now use Volt Switch, Emolga!"

"What's Volt Switch?" Harry wondered as Emolga put her arms together in front of her and a yellow orb of electricity appeared. She opened her arms and fired the orb of electricity at Purrloin. When the orb hit her, Purrloin's body became surrounded by yellow electricity. While she yelped in pain, Emolga rushed back to Elesa and another Poké Ball opened, releasing Tynamo onto the battlefield.

"It's a move that let's me bypass my own rule of not being able to recall my Pokémon," Elesa said happily, "Tynamo use Spark!" Tynamo surrounded herself with electricity and shot towards Purrloin at breakneck speed.

"Dodge it!" cried Harry and Purrloin jumped out of the way just in time, "Now Rapid Fire Shadow Ball!" Purrloin turned and fired a barrage of Shadow Balls at Tynamo.

"Dodge then Tackle!" ordered Elesa and Tynamo weaved between the Shadow Balls and slammed into Purrloin.

"Slash!" ordered Harry and Purrloin managed to Slash Tynamo before she could escape, knocking her backwards with a squeal of pain. Tynamo winced from the scratches that ran down the length of her body, before glowing white, "Oh no."

"Oh yes," Elesa said gleefully as Tynamo grew longer, larger and more flexible. When the light faded a dark blue, almost black, eel-like Pokémon with a beige underbelly floated in Tynamo's place. It had a round, toothy, leech-like mouth with red lips and beige fins extended from above and below its head. Its body was decorated with three yellow spots on the side and it had a red tail fin that resembled a fan. The scratches left by Purrloin's Slash had disappeared.

" _Elektrik the EleFish Pokémon and evolved form of Tynamo._ _It wraps itself around its prey and paralyzes it with electricity from the round spots on its sides before_ _devouring it_."

"Alright Elektrik use Charge Beam!" Elesa ordered and Elektrik formed an orb of electricity in its mouth and shot an electrical beam from the orb.

"Dodge and use Shadow Ball!" ordered Harry and Purrloin jumped, forming a Shadow Ball as she moved and firing it at Elektrik. Elektrik opened her mouth, caught the Shadow Ball and used Crunch to crush it, "Oh damn."

"Charge Beam!" ordered Elesa and Elektrik shot out another Charge Beam, causing Purrloin to scream in pain. She hit the ground hard.

"Purrloin, hang in there!" Harry cried. Purrloin lifted her head slightly but couldn't seem to find the strength to actually stand. At least not until she started to glow white just as Elektrik had done, "Whoa. You too?" When the light faded a beautiful, panther like Pokémon stood in Purrloin's place. She was still breathing hard but her evolution had provided her with enough strength to continue.

" _Liepard, the Cruel Pokémon and evolved form of Purrloin. This beautiful Pokémon sneaks up on its victims and strikes from behind before they can react._ "

"Two evolutions in the same battle!" Elesa squealed, "Our Pokémon are putting on quite a show!" The crowd cheered in agreement, "Elektrik use Spark!" Elektrik lunged towards Liepard, surrounding herself with electricity.

"Jump and use Shadow Ball!" Harry ordered and Liepard sprang into the air before doing an impressive twisting somersault so that she could turn in mid-air and aim her Shadow Ball towards Elektrik, who was now behind her. Lucario watched Liepard's impressive maneuvre with admiration. The Shadow Ball crashed into Elektrik and she hit the ground hard, "Now use Slash!"

"LiiieeePARD!" cried Liepard, lunging towards Elektrik and Slashing her as she passed. Liepard landed gracefully behind the EleFish Pokémon and glanced back with a confident smirk. Elektrik collapsed behind her.

"Elektrik is unable to battle, Liepard wins!"

"Excellent work, Liepard," Harry praised. Liepard sauntered back to his side of the battlefield and winked at Lucario before turning back to face Elesa.

"Well done," Elesa said, "But Liepard looks pretty tired. Emolga, the bright light's back on you!" Emolga reappeared and smirked at Liepard, "Electro Ball!" Emolga created an orb of electricity on the end of her tail, then somersaulted and fired it at Liepard.

"Shadow Ball!" Harry ordered and Liepard fired Shadow Ball at the Electro Ball, creating an explosion.

"Aerial Ace!" Elesa ordered and Emolga shot through the smoke surrounded by white streaks and smashed into Liepard, knocking her out.

"Liepard is unable to battle, Emolga wins!"

"Good job, Liepard," Harry said, "Get some rest. Snivy battle position!" Snivy emerged and looked up at Emolga with a confident smirk.

"A Grass type?" Elesa said looking confused.

"Snivy's never been in a Gym battle before," Harry said, "But she loves battling and she was left out of my last two gym battles."

"She," Elesa noted, "That means Attract won't work. Thunder Wave!" Emolga shot blue electricity towards Snivy.

"Vine Whip and jump!" Harry ordered and Snivy used Vine Whip to propel herself into the air, safely out of Thunder Waves way, "Now use Cut!" Snivy's small hand glowed blue and she swiped it at Emolga.

"Dodge and use Acrobatics!" Elesa commanded and Emolga narrowly avoided Cut before circling back and slamming into Snivy from behind, "Follow up with Aerial Ace!" Emolga dived towards Snivy, surrounded by white streaks and slammed into her again, "Using a Grass type against my Emolga was a bad idea."

"Don't be so sure," Harry said as Snivy struggled to her feet, "Use Glare!" Snivy Glared at Emolga who froze as she stared into her eyes. The Sky Squirrel Pokémon's muscles seized up so she couldn't move, "Leaf Storm!" Snivy formed Leaf Storm around her body and fired it at Emolga, knocking her out of the air.

"Emolga use Volt Switch!" cried Elesa.

"Cut!" Harry ordered and Snivy darted forwards and slashed Emolga before she could complete her Volt Switch, defeating her.

"Emolga is unable to battle, Snivy wins!"

"Very good for your first Gym battle, Snivy," Harry commented. Snivy folded her arms and smiled smugly.

"Guess I underestimated Snivy," Elesa muttered as she recalled Emolga, "Sorry for getting overconfident Emolga. Zebstrika, the bright light's on you!" The Thunderbolt Pokémon emerged and whinnied at Snivy who stared back confidently.

"Snivy use Leaf Blade!" Harry ordered and Snivy jumped into the air and somersaulted as her tail glowed green.

"Flame Charge!" Elesa countered and Zebstrika surrounded herself with fire before lunging forwards and slamming into Snivy. Snivy screamed as Zebstrika overpowered her Leaf Blade and sent her somersaulting backwards into the wall.

"Snivy is unable to battle, Zebstrika wins!"

"That's okay Snivy," Harry said as he recalled her, "At least you took out Emolga. Lucario battle position." Lucario jumped onto the battlefield, "Use Aura Sphere!" Lucario fired an orb of blue Aura at Zebstrika.

"Light Screen!" Elesa called and Zebstrika formed a yellow screen, weakening Aura Sphere's power.

"ExtremeSpeed!" Harry ordered and Lucario used his newest attack, shooting towards Zebstrika so fast that there was barely time to blink before he collided with it, "Good, now Bone Rush!" Lucario created a long bone between his hands and slammed it into Zebstrika three times, giving her no time to retaliate.

"Knock it away with Double Kick!" cried Elesa and Zebstrika turned and slammed both of her back hooves into Lucario, one after the other, knocking him backwards, "Alright Flame Charge!" Zebstrika surrounded herself with fire and charged at Lucario.

"Dodge and use Force Palm!" Harry ordered and Lucario jumped out of the way before turning and lunging at Zebstrika.

"Double Kick!" Elesa shouted and Zebstrika slammed both hooves into Lucario before his Force Palm could land, knocking the breath out of him, "Now Flame Charge again!" Zebstrika turned as Lucario struggled to regain his breath, and surrounded itself with fire again before smashing into Lucario, knocking him across the battlefield.

"Lucario get up!" Harry called. Lucario grunted and pushed himself back onto his feet.

"Zebstrika Wild Charge!" Elesa ordered and Zebstrika surrounded its body with electricity and shot towards Lucario.

"Counter!" Harry shouted. This was a move that Lucario hadn't used since his battle with Tobias' Latios. Lucario was surprised to hear this command as he had grown used to either dodging of just taking Physical Attacks. Nonetheless, he glowed red but he had grown rusty at using this particular move. Zebstrika smashed through Counter and knocked Lucario into the wall.

"Oh dear," Elesa said, "It seems your Lucario hasn't mastered Counter."

"Actually, Lucario's Counter hasn't failed like that in nearly a year," Harry said with a frown. Lucario struggled to his feet, looking exhausted. Opposite him, Zebstrika was grimacing from recoil damage.

"When was the last time he used it?" asked Elesa.

"About two months ago," Harry said.

"No wonder he's grown rusty," Elesa said, "If a Pokémon neglects a move for too long, it simply forgets how to use it."

"Really?" Harry said, "I thought that once a Pokémon mastered a move, that was it. They could just keep doing it."

"Nope," Elesa said, "My Zebstrika used to know Thunderbolt but since she prefers fighting physically, she's forgotten how to use it. That's what happens if you become so reliant on certain moves that you neglect the others."

"Huh," Harry grunted, unsure how to respond to that, "Thanks for teaching me that."

"No problem," Elesa said, "Can Lucario continue?"

" _I'm not done yet_ ," Lucario grunted. Elesa glanced at him in surprise.

"Telepathy," Harry explained, "Aura Sphere!" Lucario hurled Aura Sphere at Zebstrika who whinnied in pain. Elesa hadn't noticed that Light Screen had worn off, "Now use Force Palm!"

"Wild Charge!" yelled Elesa and Zebstrika lunged to intercept Lucario's Force Palm with Wild Charge. Lucario used both palms to ensure maximum power while Zebstrika put the strength of her entire body into her Wild Charge. When the two moves collided, there was an explosion which sent both Pokémon flying, "Zebstrika!"

"Lucario!" Harry yelled. The smoke cleared. Both Lucario and Zebstrika were lying on the ground, unmoving.

"Zebstrika and Lucario are both unable to battle!" called the referee, "Therefore this match is a draw!"

"A draw?" Iris said, looking at Ash in confusion, "What happens in the event of a draw?"

"The gym leader decides whether the challenger deserves their badge or not," Ash replied. On the battlefield, Harry knelt beside Lucario.

"You okay, buddy?" he asked.

" _I'll live,_ " Lucario mumbled and Harry helped him sit up. Elesa recalled her Zebstrika and crossed over to them.

"That was a great battle," Elesa said, "Your Pokémon fought hard but I don't believe in going easy on my challengers. A tie isn't good enough to earn you a badge."

"Oh," Harry couldn't hide his disappointment.

"Sorry," Elesa apologised, "You're going to have to come back and try again."

"Okay," Harry said, "At least I learned something from this battle so thank you for that."

"Your welcome," Elesa said with a smile, "I look forward to our rematch."

* * *

Harry sat with Ash and Iris in the Pokémon Centre while his Pokémon were being healed.

"Sorry you didn't get the badge," Ash said.

"That's okay," Harry said, "You know you guys don't need to stick around for the rematch."

"Are you sure?" asked Iris.

"Iris, I've already won three badges in this region without you guys," Harry pointed out, "I'll be fine."

"You sound like you want to get rid of us," Ash said.

"No, it's not that," Harry said, "It's just that there's a good chance you and I will battle in the Unova League. If we keep travelling together, we'll know every one of each others tricks and strategies so we won't be able to surprise each other in the League. Where's the fun in that?"

"I never thought of that," Ash said.

"Besides," Harry added, "you really don't need me slowing you down. I know how eager you are to get to your next battle as fast as possible."

"Yeah, you know me too well," Ash agreed, "So Iris, do you want to come with me or stay with Harry?"

"Well, I've known you a bit longer," Iris said, then glanced at Harry, "No offence but I'm gonna stay with Ash."

"None taken," Harry said cheerfully, "I'm used to it being just me and my Pokémon anyway."

* * *

" _I don't need Counter anymore,_ " Lucario said when Harry told him they should work on regaining mastery of the move.

"Yeah you do," Harry said, "If it had worked against Zebstrika, we would have the Bolt Badge."

" _Maybe so but I don't want to become reliant on it,_ " Lucario said, " _Next time I battle Marowak, I want to be able to beat him in a head to head fight, rather than just Countering his moves._ "

"You do realize that this is for battling Zebstrika, not Marowak right?" Harry said.

" _Yes, but I could have just dodged that Wild Charge,_ " Lucario pointed out, " _Spinning, dodging with ExtremeSpeed or just stepping aside; I didn't need to Counter it even if it had worked._ _I haven't needed Counter since I battled Tobias' Latios so it just doesn't seem worth the effort._ "

"So you're too lazy to re-master it?" Harry asked. Lucario frowned at him.

" _No, I'd just prefer to focus on new attacks or those that I still use frequently_ ," he said, " _Especially Bone Rush. Besides that's a Ground type move, so it's effective against Electric types_."

"Good point," Harry said thoughtfully, "In fact, you've given me an idea."

* * *

Harry and Elesa were facing each other for the second time. This time, Harry didn't have Ash or Iris supporting him but he didn't mind.

"Elektrik, the bright light's on you!" cried Elesa, sending out her newly evolved Pokémon.

"Lucario, battle position," Harry said and Lucario jumped onto the battlefield with a confident smirk. The judge started the battle and Harry made the first move, "Lucario, ExtremeSpeed!" Lucario shot forwards in a blur of motion and slammed into Elektrik before she had time to react, "Now Force Palm!"

"Dodge and use Crunch!" cried Elesa and Elektrik twisted her body so that Force Palm missed, before clamping her jaws on Lucario's head, "Now use Thunderbolt!" Still gripping Lucario's skull in her mouth, Elektrik shot a powerful blast of electricity into the Aura Pokémon's body. Lucario yelled and fell onto his knees as Elektrik released him, "Good job Elektrik. Wild Charge!"

"Force Palm!" Harry countered as Elektrik surrounded herself with electricity and lunged at Lucario. Lucario thrust his palm into Elektrik's face and the explosion blasted them both backwards. Elektrik winced from the added damage caused by Wild Charge's recoil effect.

"Elektrik Thunderbolt!" ordered Elesa and Elektrik shot out another powerful blast of electricity. Both Harry and Lucario smirked.

"Bone Rush on the ground!" Harry ordered and Lucario created a Bone Rush that was actually taller than he was and stuck it straight into the ground. The Thunderbolt landed on the makeshift lightningrod and was redirected harmlessly into the battlefield.

"What the!" cried Elesa.

"Aura Sphere!" Harry ordered and while the Bone Rush was still absorbing Thunderbolt, Lucario formed and fired an Aura Sphere at the shocked Elektrik, blasting her backwards, "Now ExtremeSpeed!" Elektrik looked up in time to see a blur slam into her and smash her against the wall.

"Elektrik is unable to battle, Lucario wins."

"Great job, Lucario," Harry praised.

" _I'm glad Raichu wasn't here to see that_ ," Lucario replied.

"Thanks Elektrik, get some rest," Elesa said, "Using Bone Rush to redirect the Thunderbolt was a smart strategy Harry. Emolga, the bright lights on you!" Emolga appeared.

"Lucario come back," Harry called and Lucario backflipped off the battlefield and landed beside him, "Liepard battle position!" Liepard appeared, "Fake Out!" Liepard's Fake Out caused Emolga to flinch, leaving her defenceless against the next move, "Now use Assist!" A white ball appeared on the end of Liepard's paw and shot out a swirling storm of leaves. The Leaf Storm slammed into Emolga and blew her backwards but thanks to her Flying type characteristics, it didn't hurt her too much.

"Now it's our turn!" Elesa cried, "Emolga use Discharge!" Emolga shot out a powerful and chaotic blast of electricity.

"Dodge it!" cried Harry and Liepard leaped away from one bolt, only to find another heading towards her. She avoided that one too but there were so many bolts flying at her that she was only able to dodge four of them before being hit by the fifth and several more after that.

"Now use Aerial Ace!" cried Elesa and Emolga dived, becoming surrounded by white streaks and slamming into Liepard. The Cruel Pokémon twisted into a backflip and landed on her feet.

"Rapid Fire Shadow Ball!" Harry ordered.

"Shoot them all down with Discharge!" Elesa countered and Liepard blasted several Shadow Ball's at Emolga, only for them all to be destroyed by another flare of electricity.

"Assist!" Harry called and Liepard formed another white orb on her paw. This time however, she pressed her paw against her own body, giving herself a huge burst of speed as she mimicked Lucario's ExtremeSpeed. Emolga was caught off guard as a blur of dark fur slammed into her, "Now use Slash!" Liepard thrust her claws down and Slashed Emolga hard enough to send her crashing into the ground. Liepard landed on Elesa's side of the battlefield and glanced back at her opponent.

"Emolga's unable to battle, Liepard wins!"

"Two down, one to go," Harry said. Liepard smirked and sauntered over to his side of the battlefield.

"You deserve a rest Emolga," Elesa said, "Alright Zebstrika, the bright light's on you!" Zebstrika appeared, snorted and pawed the ground aggressively. "Flame Charge!" Zebstrika surrounded herself with fire and lunged at Liepard.

"Dodge it, then Assist!" Harry ordered and Liepard leapt out of the way, turned and formed a white orb on the end of her paw. An Aura Sphere shot out of the orb.

"Light Screen!" Elesa ordered and Zebstrika turned and hastily set up Light Screen, halving the damage, "Now Flame Charge!" Zebstrika charged again, this time ramming into Liepard with a flaming tackle.

"Slash!" Harry ordered and Liepard raked her claws right across Zebstrika's face, causing her to whinny in pain.

"Double Kick!" cried Elesa and Zebstrika slammed her hooves into Liepard, sending her crashing to the ground.

"Liepard is unable to battle, Zebstrika wins!"

"Well done Liepard, get some rest," Harry said, "Snivy, battle position!" Snivy appeared, "Vine Whip!"

"Dodge and use Double Kick!" ordered Elesa as Snivy whipped out two green vines. Zebstrika jumped out of the way and turned before lashing out at Snivy with her hooves.

"Dodge and retreat!" Harry ordered and Snivy dodged both Zebstrika's hooves before jumping a safe distance away, "Use Leaf Storm!" Snivy sent a swirling storm of leaves at Zebstrika, only for Light Screen to reappear. However the Leaf Storm was blocking Zebstrika's vision so she didn't see Snivy coming until it was too late, "Leaf Blade!" Snivy slashed Zebstrika with Leaf Blade the instant the Leaf Storm had ended.

"Flame Charge!" Elesa yelled and Zebstrika charged, smashing into Snivy and sending her sprawling, "Now Giga Impact!" Snivy picked herself up, only to be hit by Zebstrika's strongest attack. Zebstrika kept going and smashed Snivy into the wall, putting her whole weight behind the attack. The impact left a crater in the wall with Snivy inside it.

"Snivy is unable to battle, Zebstrika wins."

"Bloody hell, that must have been a Critical Hit," Harry mumbled as he recalled Snivy, "Alright Lucario, battle position. Use Bone Rush!" Lucario was forming Bone Rush before he was even on the battlefield and a moment later he was smashing the bone relentlessly into Zebstrika.

"Double Kick!" cried Elesa and Zebstrika knocked Lucario away with two strong kicks, "Now use Wild Charge!"

"Dodge with ExtremeSpeed!" Harry ordered as Zebstrika surrounded herself with electricity and charged. One moment, Lucario was in front of Zebstrika and the next he was gone, shooting around behind her with blinding speed. Meanwhile Zebstrika's Light Screen wore off, "Aura Sphere!" Lucario hurled Aura Sphere as Zebstrika turned to face him.

"Light Screen!" cried Elesa and Zebstrika set up a second Light Screen to absorb Aura Sphere but both Harry and Lucario had expected that.

"Force Palm, go!" Harry shouted and Lucario charged while Zebstrika was distracted.

"Quick, Giga Impact!" ordered Elesa and Zebstrika reacted faster than Harry or Lucario had expected, surrounding herself in purple and yellow energy and slamming into Lucario's Force Palm. There was an explosion but Zebstrika powered on through, sending Lucario crashing to the ground.

"Lucario!" Harry cried. Lucario groaned but struggled to his feet, "Alright don't hold back. Bone Rush!" Lucario formed another bone and lunged, slamming it over and over again into Zebstrika, finishing with a powerful blow to the head. Zebstrika collapsed, unable to take anymore damage and Lucario stood over her triumphantly.

"Zebstrika is unable to battle, Lucario wins. That means the victor is the challenger, Harry!"

"Way to go Lucario," Harry said. Lucario dissipated the Bone Rush and smiled at him while Elesa recalled Zebstrika.

"Well, this time you beat me," she said as she glided across the battlefield to Harry, "So you've earned the Bolt Badge. Congratulations."

"Thanks Elesa," Harry said as she held out the badge. He took it and put it in his badge case, "By the way are you going to tell me what you were doing in your private modelling shoot the other day?"

"Come back when you're eighteen and I might," Elesa replied.


	15. Event in Lostlorn Forest

"Larvesta use Flamethrower!" Harry ordered and Larvesta blasted out a stream of flames. On Harry's shoulder, Chimchar watched her student successfully defeat their opponent's Pawniard.

"Pawniard return," said their opponent, a boy around Ash's age. He nodded to Harry, then walked away without a word.

"Well done, Larvesta," Harry said, then patted Chimchar's head, "You're teaching paid off, Chimchar."

"Chimchar," Chimchar said, smiling at the petting she was receiving. Lucario was relaxing against a tree.

"Up and at 'em Lucario," Harry said as he recalled Larvesta and Chimchar, "We should reach the edge of Lostlorn Forest soon."

* * *

Harry was right, although the sun was setting by the time they reached the edge of the forest. Harry propped his bag against a tree and laid out his sleeping bag. Lucario lay down with his hands behind his head and looked up at the setting sun.

"Roar!" said a voice and suddenly a large fox like Pokémon leaped out of the trees. Lucario leapt onto his feet and dodged the Pokémon's Shadow Claw.

"What the hell!" Harry yelped as the Pokémon kept swiping at Lucario. Harry recognised it as a Zoroark, having witnessed Tobias use one in the Sinnoh League. He then realized that Zoroark was driving Lucario back towards a huge tree, "Lucario, it's a trap!" Lucario bumped into the tree and Zoroark gave him a smirk before blasting him with Flamethrower. Lucario yelled in pain and slumped against the tree. Zoroark turned to Harry with an aggressive glint in his eyes.

"Zoroark, that's enough!" commanded a female voice. A petite young woman with brown eyes and long dark hair emerged from the forest. It was hard to tell how old she was. She could be in her late teens or her early thirties but although she was small, she held herself with confidence. She was dressed entirely in black. Zoroark retreated and went to her side.

"Lucario, are you okay?" Harry asked kneeling beside his injured Starter Pokémon.

" _I'll live,_ " Lucario grunted and picked himself up.

"What the hell was that all about!" Harry yelled at the woman.

"You got the wrong guy, Zoroark," the woman said, suddenly seeming uninterested in Harry, "This boy's way too young."

"Tell me what's going on!" Harry yelled at her.

"We're hunting a hunter who owns a Lucario," the woman replied, "He's been spotted in this area. Zoroark grew up in this forest, so he's very protective of the Pokémon who live here." She turned and started to walk away.

"Wait!" Harry called, "You're just going to leave?"

"There's no need for me to stay," the woman said, "Unless you're a hunter but the chances of two hunters having a Lucario, especially in this region are almost non-existent."

" _I always thought my species was too noble to be involved in Pokémon hunting,_ " Lucario muttered.

"Well, there are always exceptions," Harry said before addressing the woman again, "Who are you anyway?"

"Melantha," she replied, "Now if you'll excuse me, Zoroark and I have a hunter to hunt." She swept gracefully away and Zoroark followed her.

* * *

Eric blocked his Lucario's punches and kicks and then kicked him away. Lucario back-flipped onto his hands and landed on his feet.

"Good training," Eric grunted to his partner, "Now let's continue our search." Lucario nodded and the pair jumped into a van which had a large, electric cage in the back and drove further into Lostlorn Forest. Lucario relaxed against the seat and closed his eyes, reaching out with his Aura senses. Eric trusted the Aura Pokémon to tell him when to stop and sure enough, Lucario did.

"Car," Lucario said suddenly and Eric slammed his foot on the breaks, skidding to a halt.

"You sure?" he asked. Lucario nodded and the pair grinned at each other wickedly. The duo climbed out of the van. At first glance, there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary, just two Sewaddle, two Swadloon and two Leavanni. "Lucario Foresight!"

"Lucar," said Lucario as his body became outlined in light blue and his eyes glowed the same colour. He then releases a large light blue force-field from his body that expanded all around the area. The Swadloon and Leavanni all changed their form in front of Eric's eyes, revealing two Zoroark and four Zorua.

"Galvantula, Ariados Spider Web!" Eric cried as he threw two Poke Balls and released two spider like Pokémon who shot silky string all around the area. The Zorua tried to flee but only one managed to get out of the clearing before the Spider Web sealed it off. The two Zoroark attacked Lucario who lazily blasted them away with two Aura Sphere. He had a sadistic smirk which really didn't suit a member of his species on his face.

* * *

Zorua ran through the forest, yowling for help. She knew the forest well but right now she wasn't focussed on where she was going. She skidded to a halt as Lucario appeared in front of her. Terrified, Zorua backed away. To her surprise, Lucario took a step back instead of advancing and another human stepped forwards instead. This one looked nothing like the hunter. He was much smaller and had blue eyes, thick brown hair and kinder looking features. Zorua wasn't an expert on the human aging process, but this one looked like a cub. However the Tricky Fox Pokémon was still on the verge of bolting.

"Easy little guy," Harry said to the frightened Pokémon.

" _She's a girl,_ " Lucario corrected him.

"Okay, easy girl," Harry amended, "We're not gonna hurt you. We heard there's a hunter in the area." Zorua's eyes flicked to the Lucario. Harry noticed, "My Lucario has no interest in hunting. He's too honourable for it and so am I."

"Zorua," said Zorua hesitantly but still made no move, neither to flee nor to indicate she believed Harry's words. A howl of pain from one of the adults in her pack reminded her of the situation. She looked at the Lucario and swallowed, "Zorua, Zo, Zoru, Zorua."

" _She says "my pack is under attack",_ " Lucario translated.

"We'll help you if you take us to them," Harry said. Zorua decided that she didn't have anything to lose and nodded before leading them back the way she had just come.

They arrived in the clearing as Eric and his Lucario where loading the two Zoroark into their van. Both Illusion Fox Pokémon had been beaten to a pulp. Ariados and Galvantula had been recalled. Harry's Lucario scowled and fired an Aura Sphere at the other Lucario, who reacted with astonishing reflexes, not only noticing the Aura Sphere but managing to kick it away so that it exploded against a tree all in the span of a single second.

"What the...?" Eric turned and saw Harry behind him with his Lucario by his side and the fourth Zorua hiding behind him, "Well, thanks for bringing Zorua back to me, kid. Do you have any idea how valuable just one of these Pokémon are?"

"Why do so many people want Pokémon for money?" Harry said, remembering the other Pokémon Hunter he had encountered in Sinnoh, known as J.

"People pay for pets, don't they?" Eric pointed out, "Now gimme that Zorua."

"One, you've got three Zorua and two Zoroark in that van already, two, not on your life and three, you won't get away with poaching," Harry snapped, "Lucario, Bone Rush!" Lucario lunged at his counterpart. The other Lucario simply stepped aside, then back, then to the side again, then jumped when Lucario aimed at his feet. Eric watched with mild amusement.

"My buddy here has been with me since before you were born, kid," he said, "You really think a whippersnapper like you can beat us?"

" _You're a disgrace to our species!_ " Lucario snapped and both Eric and his Lucario's eyes widened in surprise when they heard him talking. A second later, Eric's Lucario was knocked off his feet.

"Yours can talk?" Eric said in astonishment.

"Obviously yours can't," Harry said smugly, "It's a dumb brute compared to mine." Eric's Lucario scowled at him and fired an Aura Sphere in his direction. Harry's Lucario jumped in the way and batted the Aura Sphere away with his bone. Then he lunged and started swinging and thrusting at Eric's Lucario once more. Despite the lucky blow he landed when he caught Eric's Lucario off guard with his voice, Harry's Lucario wasn't fast or precise enough to land another hit.

"Just because a Pokémon can't talk, doesn't mean it's dumb," Eric said.

"Then why are you treating Zoroark and Zorua like merchandise?" Harry asked.

"It's my job," Eric shrugged, "Besides, Pokémon get captured all the time. The only difference is, I'm doing it for profit. Oh and hurting creatures weaker than you is fun too." His Lucario smirked in agreement, "Lucario, let's stop playing around with this runt. Close Combat!" Eric's Lucario suddenly grabbed Harry's Lucario's bone, kicked him in the stomach, tossed the bone away which dissipated in mid-air, and started beating the hell out of Lucario with a relentless barrage of punches and kicks. Finally he swung an uppercut into Lucario's chin lifting him into the air and causing him to crash down hard on his back.

"Lucario!" Harry cried in shock. His Lucario had defeated a Darkrai while he was still a Riolu and held his ground against Latios after evolving in the same battle, but he had just been knocked out with a single attack by a member of his own species.

"Told you your buddy was no match for mine," Eric said smugly, "Come on Lucario, let's go get our reward."

"Flamethrower!" cried a voice which Harry recognised and a stream of flames shot out of the trees. Harry recalled his Lucario while Eric's jumped out of the way of the super effective move.

"What now?" grunted Eric but his expression brightened when Melantha entered the clearing, accompanied by her Zoroark, "Well, hello Beautiful. So you taught your Zoroark Flamethrower, huh."

"Obviously," Melantha replied coldly, "Flamethrower again!" Zoroark shot another stream of flames from his mouth at Lucario who dodged it easily.

"Use Aura Sphere!" ordered Eric and Lucario fired an orb of Aura at Zoroark.

"Shadow Claw!" ordered Melantha and Zoroark's claws became surrounded in shadowy energy and he slashed Aura Sphere apart before lunging and slashing viciously at Lucario, who dodged each swipe.

"Close Combat!" ordered Eric and Melantha smirked as he said that.

"Counter!" she countered as Lucario started attacking Zoroark with a flurry of punches and kicks. Zoroark's body glowed red and he slammed his clenched fist into Lucario, sending him flying into Eric's van. Lucario collided with the van at such speed that it rocked from the impact. Lucario also left a huge dent in the metal before slumping to the ground.

"What!" cried Eric, then gritted his teeth and recalled the unconscious Aura Pokemon, "You're better than I thought, Sweetheart. Lucario return. Galvantula and Ariados, let's go!" The two spider like Pokémon appeared and Harry took out his pokedex.

" _Ariados the Long Leg Pokémon and evolved form of Spinarak. It shoots out strong and sticky webbing to trap its prey. Ariados does not have a permanent nest and wanders at night, searching for food._ "

" _Galvantula the EleSpider Pokémon and evolved form of Joltik._ _They use an electrically charged web to trap their prey. While it is immobilized by shock, they leisurely consume it._ "

"Signal Beam!" ordered Eric and both Ariados and Galvantula fired pink beams, Ariados from its horn and Galvantula from between its pedipalps. Zoroak jumped over Ariados' Signal Beam but got hit by Galvantula's. He roared in pain but landed on his feet. The Zorua at Harry's feet watched with admiration.

"Night Daze!" Melantha ordered and Zoroark's arms glowed crimson before he slammed them into the ground and an explosion of Dark energy erupted from his body, blowing both Galvantula and Ariados off their feet, "Use Flamethrower on Galvantula!" Zoroark fired a stream of fire at Galvantula who shrieked in pain and collapsed, unconscious, "Now Shadow Claw on Ariados!"

"Ariados, Bug Bite!" ordered Eric as he recalled Galvantula and Ariados used the two white mandibles clamped shut on Zoroark's claws, stopping the Shadow Claw, "Now Signal Beam!" Ariados was still holding Zoroark's claws when it fired Signal Beam at point blank range, blasting Zoroark into a tree and knocking him out.

"Zoroark!" cried Melantha.

"Tie the bitch up!" ordered Eric and Ariados fired a String Shot at Melantha.

"Block it, Larvesta!" Harry called, sending out the young Bug and Fire type who jumped in front of the String Shot without hesitation, "Flame Charge!" Larvesta set his tiny body on fire, burning away the String Shot in the process, before charging and smashing into Ariados, knocking it out.

"Ariados!" cried Eric.

"Good work Larvesta," Harry said, "Now String Shot on the hunter." Larvesta obeyed, shooting out strong string from his mouth and a moment later, Eric was struggling on the ground with silk encasing his entire body apart from his neck and head.

Melantha opened the van, which Eric hadn't had time to lock before Harry arrived, and let out the Zoroark and Zorua pack. The Zorua that was already free hurried over to greet her friends. Then she went to Eric and stuck out her tongue before making taunting faces at the enraged man. Harry chuckled and Melantha gave a small smile.

"Thanks for the help," Melantha said.

"No problem," Harry replied, "This isn't the first Pokémon hunter I've encountered."

"Zorua," said the Zorua whom Harry and Lucario had found going over to Melantha. She knelt down and patted her head.

"Zoroark needs a break sweetie," she said, "We'll visit again some other time."

"Do you often come here?" Harry asked.

"Now and again," Melantha replied, "My Zoroark was the leader of this pack before I captured him."

"I see," Harry said. Zorua was bouncing around them energetically. The other members of the pack were still aching from the abuse Eric and his Pokémon had put them through but watched her fondly. Harry knelt down, "Hey Zorua, would you like to come with me? I can train you to beat bullies like Eric and his Pokémon to pulps." Zorua grinned enthusiastically, then bounded backwards and crouched in a challenging stance, "I'm not a bully but okay. Go Eevee." Eevee appeared and mimicked Zorua's stance, "Use Swift!" Eevee shot out a flurry of yellow stars which Zorua tried to dodge, but the stars just chased her until they hit, "Quick Attack!" Eevee darted forwards and knocked Zorua off her feet. Zorua struggled up and her eyes glowed gold and she shot out a golden beam from her mouth.

"So Zorua knows Extrasensory," Melantha murmured as Zorua lifted Eevee with the beam and slammed her into a tree. Zorua then lunged at Eevee, intending to use Scratch.

"Bite," Harry ordered and Eevee caught Zorua's paw in her mouth and then slammed her against the same tree Zorua had just slammed her into. Zorua slumped to the ground, stunned. Harry threw a Poke Ball. It wobbled three times, then went still, "Alright!" Harry cheered but then felt Liepard's Poke Ball teleport away to his grandfather's lab. He made a mental note to check on how she settled in with his Sinnoh Pokémon when he got to the next Pokémon Centre.

"Congratulations," Melantha said as she dragged Eric towards his own van, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to hand this scum over to the authorities. You're going to Black City, right?"

"Yes," Harry said.

"I live there," Melantha said, "I'll see you again soon."

 **It's been a while. Sorry. I haven't written the next chapter yet, but I have a plan for Melantha. At the moment however, I'm focussing more on my new Hollyoaks story.**


	16. The Dark Gym

**I know I've had a** **n outrageously long hiatus so I'll give it to you straight. My excuses aren't strong enough to justify the delay and you guys might still have to wait a long time for the next chapter because I'm not as passionate about this Pokémon story as I was about the previous one. That doesn't mean I've given up on it though. It just means that updates will most likely be few and far between.**

Harry was on the edge of Lostlorn Forest, near a huge bridge which led to Black City. He was eating with Eevee and Snivy, while Chimchar swung through the trees and Zorua played with Larvesta. Lucario was sitting on a log, away from the rest of the group.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Harry asked looking at Lucario, "Is this about Liepard being at Grandpa's lab?"

" _No_ ," Lucario replied, " _Although I hope she's settling in okay. It's actually about that hunter's Lucario. I thought Lucario was a noble species, not one that would bully those weaker than themselves._ "

"Remember what Cynthia told us back in Sinnoh?" Harry asked, "All Pokémon have different personalities, just like people. That Lucario may have been a brute but don't think that it says anything bad about your entire species."

" _I know,_ " Lucario responded, " _It's just a nasty kick in the gut to see another Lucario be so cruel. He was close to his trainer, so they were both sadists._ "

"Well thankfully you're not like that," Harry said, "Now come and eat something. It'll cheer you up." Lucario looked up as Snivy extended her vines and offered him an apple. He smiled at her and took it.

* * *

"Bloody hell, this is a long bridge," Harry said as he and Lucario stood at one end of Marvellous Bridge.

" _Well we won't get across by just standing here,_ " Lucario grunted, " _Let's go._ " They started to walk. A group of Swanna flew overhead.

The bridge was so long that it took fifteen minutes to reach the other side at a leisurely pace. One of the Swanna was preening itself at the other end. It took off when it saw them approaching. Harry and Lucario reached the end of the bridge and found themselves in a small, rocky valley.

"There's Black City," Harry pointed to the end of the valley, "How long do you think it'll take to get there?"

" _For me, about three hours_ " Lucario replied, " _For you about a day_."

"You could carry me," Harry suggested.

" _In your dreams,_ " Lucario replied.

* * *

As Lucario predicted, it took another day to reach Black City and the place really lived up to its name. Almost every building was black, with the exception of the Pokémon Centre and one or two houses which evidently had been painted so they would stand out among the darker buildings. Harry and Lucario went to the Pokémon Centre.

"Good evening," said Nurse Joy, "Would you like to book a room for the night?"

"Yes please," Harry replied.

* * *

The next day Harry and Lucario went looking for Melantha. They found a gym made entirely of black stone.

"The Black City Gym," Harry said, "Fitting design."

They approached, then faltered as shadows extended from the buildings around them and the sky went dark. Harry glanced around nervously and Lucario assumed a defensive position, scanning the area. A shadow-like creature appeared like a ghost in front of them. Both of them immediately recognised it.

"A Darkrai!" Harry said and suddenly wondered if Tobias had returned to Unova, which he had mentioned was his home region.

" _No,_ " Lucario said and relaxed, " _It's Melantha's Zoroark._ "

The "Darkrai" somehow managed to pull off a look that showed it was pouting before transforming into the Illusion Fox Pokemon. The area around them returned to normal. Melantha sauntered out of the gym behind her Pokemon, smiling slightly.

"Of course that wouldn't fool a Lucario," she said, "Welcome to the Black City Gym."

"Are you the Gym Leader?" Harry asked.

"I am," Melantha replied, then turned and went back into the gym. Zoroark followed her and stood in the doorway, glancing back at Harry and Lucario expectantly. They followed the pair inside.

Unsurprisingly, the gym was dark, lit by very dim lights. Melantha's petite form was hard to see in the dim light, partially due to her dark clothes and hair. Zoroark stood out more due to the red parts of his fur.

"Um, you don't actually have a Darkrai, do you?" Harry said nervously.

"Of course not," Melantha said, "So are we going to battle or not?"

" _She doesn't waste time,_ " Lucario said approvingly. Melantha's dark eyes flickered to him before returning to Harry.

"Yeah," Harry said, "Rules?"

"Three on three," Melantha replied, "Substitutions permitted on both sides. I'll pick first."

"Wait, what about the judge?" Harry asked.

"Who needs one?" Melantha replied.

"Without a judge, one of us could technically cheat," Harry pointed out.

"We could," Melantha agreed, "But we won't." With a fluid movement, she threw a poke ball into the air. The ball opened and an Absol appeared. Harry took out his pokedex.

" _Absol, the Disaster Pokémon. Absol has the ability to predict natural disasters and attempts to warn people and Pokémon that they are about to happen. However, people often mistake it for the cause of those disasters._ "

"Eevee battle position," Harry called and Eevee appeared. Her ears twitched and she tensed as her Anticipation Ability predicted something.

"Absol use Psycho Cut," Melantha ordered calmly and Absol swung the horn on its head and a pink blade of psychic energy shot towards Eevee.

"Eevee use Quick Attack," Harry ordered and Eevee darted forwards, dodging Psycho Cut in the process and slamming into Absol, knocking the larger Pokémon off balance, "Now Bite." Eevee latched onto Absol's horn with her teeth and the Disaster Pokémon grunted and shook it's head. Melantha gave a very subtle smile.

"Superpower," she said and Absol glowed with a light blue aura. However, Eevee reacted far more quickly than Absol, Melantha of even Harry had anticipated, letting go of Absol's horn and leaping backwards before splitting into a Double Team. Absol charged but ran harmlessly through one of the copies. Melantha's smile vanished and her brow furrowed in annoyance.

"Nice one, Eevee," Harry said, "Use Swift!" Eevee swung her tail and pelted Absol with a barrage of golden stars.

"Aerial Ace!" Melantha ordered, raising her voice for the first time. Absol surrounded itself with white streaks, darted forwards and slammed into Eevee, knocking her to the ground, "Now use Night Slash!"

"Dodge it!" Harry yelled as Absol's scythe like horn glowed purple and it swung it down towards Eevee,who barely managed to roll out of the way. The blade slashed the floor where she had just been lying, "Swift!" Eevee pelted Absol with another Swift at point blank range, "Now use Quick Attack!"

"EeeeeevEEE!" Eevee cried and slammed into Absol with all her strength. Melantha's calm demeanour disappeared and her eyes widened in shock as Absol collapsed.

"Absol is unable to battle, Eevee wins. Absol return," Melantha quickly regained her composure, "Wow, Eevee's much stronger than I expected. Pawniard, you're up." A Pawniard, which Harry recognised from the battle he had a few days earlier, appeared.

"Eevee use Swift!" Harry ordered and Eevee swung her tail, shooting stars at Pawniard.

"Use Iron Head," Melantha said and Pawniard charged straight into the Swift which bounced off its iron skull until it slammed its glowing head into Eevee, "Now use Low Sweep." Pawniard used a sweeping kick which struck Eevee in her side and knocked her out. "Eevee is unable to battle, Pawniard wins." Harry found it odd to see the Gym Leader also acting as the judge, but so far she hadn't done anything to indicate that she was being biased.

"Great job, Eevee," Harry said, "Chimchar, battle position!" Chimchar somersaulted out of her Poke Ball.

"Hm," Melantha said, one eyebrow raising slightly, "I've never battled a Chimchar before. Iron Head."

"Vacuum Wave!" Harry ordered and Chimchar's attack landed first, sending Pawniard flying.

"In that case, use Snarl!" Melantha called and Pawniard pushed itself up, crossed its arms and then slashed its arms forward. A purple ball of energy was fired from in front of its body and grew larger until it turned into a hemisphere and ran along with top of ground until it hit Chimchar, exploding on impact. Chimchar was knocked off her feet and her body glowed for a moment before she recovered.

"I've never seen that move before," Harry commented.

"It can be useful when facing Special Attackers," Melantha replied.

"Good thing Chimchar knows Physical Attacks, then," said Harry, "Flame Wheel!" Chimchar rolled inside a wheel of fire and shot towards Pawniard.

"Iron Defence," Melantha said Pawniard glowed light blue and a white shine went up its body just before Chimchar slammed into it, "Now Low Sweep." Despite the super effective attack, Pawniard held its ground and delivered a powerful kick to Chimchar's side knocking her out of her Flame Wheel and onto the floor.

"Flamethrower!" Harry ordered.

"Dodge it then Iron Head," Melantha countered and Pawniard threw itself into a roll to dodge the Flamethrower before charging and slamming into Chimchar, causing her to flinch, "Finish with Guillotine!" Pawniards blades extended and it crossed them in preparation for the OHKO move but at that moment, Chimchar started to glow. Harry's eyes widened in surprise as she grew taller and an actual tail extended from her backside. When the glow faded a Monferno stood where CHimchar had just been.

"Yes!" Harry said triumphantly, "Perfect timing."

"Pawniard go!" Melantha yelled, and Pawniard hastily charged at Monferno, still using its Guillotine.

"Dodge it, then Flamethrower!" Harry called and Monferno leapt into the air, twisted so that she was facing towards Pawniard in mid-air and then blew a Flamethrower straight onto the unfortunate Blade Pokémon and kept the flames going until her feet touched the ground.

"Pawniard is unable to battle, Monferno wins," Melantha said, "Return Pawniard. Go Zoroark!" The Illusion Fox Pokémon bounded forwards, smirking confidently.

"Flamethrower!" Harry ordered.

"Use Night Daze," Melantha retaliated. Monferno shot Flamethrower but Zoroark created an explosion of Dark energy which blasted through Flamethrower and knocked Monferno off her feet, "Shadow Claw!"

"Zor. Roark!" Zoroark lunged and slashed Monferno with Shadow Claw as he passed her, landing behind the Playful Pokémon who hit the ground hard.

"Monferno is unable to battle, Zoroark wins." Melantha said. Zoroark smirked and leapt back over to her side of the battlefield while Harry recalled Monferno and glanced at Lucario. Lucario nodded and stepped forwards.

"Lucario, Aura Sphere!" Harry ordered and Lucario hurled an orb of Aura energy.

"Of course you'd start with that," Melantha murmured with a slight smirk, "Use Shadow Claw." Zoroark tore the Aura Sphere apart as though it was nothing, "Now Flamethrower!" Zoroark roared and shot out a stream of flames which struck Lucario directly causing him to yell in pain, "Zoroark, Shadow Claw again." Zoroark's claws were shrouded in shadows once more as he lunged.

"Bone Rush!" Harry ordered and Lucario summoned a bone and used it to block and parry Zoroark's claws. The Illusion Fox Pokémon's brow furrowed slightly, but he kept slashing, keeping Lucario on the defensive.

"Low Sweep!" Melantha ordered and Zoroark clashed with Lucario again before aiming a sweeping kick at his legs, knocking him off his feet.

"ExtremeSpeed!" Harry ordered and Lucario rolled onto his feet, faster than either Melantha or Zoroark had anticipated, and shot towards the Illusion Fox Pokémon, smashing into her and knocking him off his feet.

"I can see why it's called ExtremeSpeed," Melantha murmured, "Flamethrower!"

"Bone Rush and charge into it!" Harry ordered and Lucario created another bone and spun it like a fan, causing the fire from Flamethrower to shoot off in different directions without harming Lucario. He reached Zoroark and started slamming him repeatedly with the bone, "Alright use Force Palm!" Lucario dissipated his bone and thrust out his palm but the second it took him to do that was enough for Melantha to give her next command.

"Counter!" she ordered and Harry and Lucario's eyes widened in horror as Zoroark glowed red. The explosion of light from Lucario's palm seemed to reverse, engulfing the Aura Pokémon with twice the power and sending him hurtling into the wall.

"Lucario!" Harry cried. Lucario moaned in pain and his vision went blurry. He fell on his hands and knees, fighting to stay conscious.

"Well you're Lucario's more resilient than that hunters," Melantha muttered, "Finish with Night Daze." Zoroark raised his arms but then faltered. Melantha looked confused but Harry and Lucario realized what was happening.

"Zoroark was still hurt by that Force Palm and it has a useful side effect," Harry said, "Aura Sphere!" Lucario, gaining a sudden surge of energy upon realizing that Force Palm had paralyzed Zoroark, struggled upright and hurled an Aura Sphere.

"Shadow Claw!" Melantha screamed, a hint of panic in her normally calm voice. Zoroark reacted just a split second too slow and was blasted off his feet by the Aura Sphere, "In that case try another Night Daze!" Zoroark rolled onto his feet, the grace and agility of his movement indicating that Force Palm's paralysis wasn't going to hinder him this time, but he still wasn't fast enough.

"ExtremeSpeed!" Lucario smashed into Zoroark before he could launch the Night Daze. He slammed into the wall and collapsed.

Melantha stared at her defeated Pokémon for a moment and her jaw clenched slightly. Then she relaxed and announced, "Zoroark is unable to battle, Lucario wins. You're the victor, Harry."

"Yes!" Harry cheered and hurried towards Lucario, who fell on his hands and knees again but grinned up at his trainer nonetheless. Melantha went over to her Zoroark and knelt beside him as he regained consciousness.

"You okay?" she asked quietly. Zoroark groaned in response but nodded, "Great job, Zoroark. Get some rest." She recalled Zoroark and rose to her feet. She turned to Harry, "You know you only won because you got lucky with Force Palm, don't you?"

"No need to be a sore loser," Harry said.

"I'm not," Melantha replied, "I'm simply stating the facts. You can't always rely on luck to win a battle," she gave a slight smile, "Although it does sometimes help. Here. You've earned the Darkness Badge." She held out a simple, black badge which only had one distinctive feature and that was that it was in the shape of a D.

"Thanks," Harry replied, taking the badge from her. She shrugged.

"No need to thank me. My dad would kill me if I were childish enough to refuse to give it to you."

* * *

Harry was in the Pokémon centre, talking to his grandfather on a screen with Lucario standing beside him.

"Ah yes, I'd heard that someone had finally opened a Dark type gym in Unova," Professor Rowan said, "It's about time if you ask me."

"I know," Harry said, "Why are Gym Leaders so averse to Dark types?"

"No idea," grunted Rowan, "Well congratulations but I'm going to assume this isn't the only reason you called me."

"You know me too well, Grandpa," Harry said, "I also called because Chimchar finally evolved."

"Ah, good," Rowan said.

"And, as you know, I've caught five Pokémon here in Unova," Harry added, "You've got Liepard but I haven't trained with her as much or gotten to know her as well as Monferno."

" _You know she's obsessed with me,_ " grumbled Lucario.

"And I know you fancy her," Harry smirked and Lucario blushed.

" _Our species can't even breed,_ " he mumbled.

"You knew Monferno as a Chimchar," Rowan interrupted, having only heard Harry's side of the conversation since Lucario's telepathy couldn't travel through the screen, "Have you considered that she might have changed since evolving?" As he spoke, Monferno burst out of her Poke Ball and hopped onto Harry's shoulder. However, since she was bigger and heavier now, Harry stumbled from the unexpected weight and nearly fell over. Beside him, Lucario rolled his eyes and shook his head while Monferno smiled sheepishly.

"Nope, she's still the same," Harry groaned rubbing his shoulder and glancing at Monferno, "You're getting too big for that Monferno."

"Ferno," Monferno scratched her head looking slightly embarrassed.

"Would you mind going back to Grandpa's lab for a while?" Harry said, "I'm going to be getting Liepard back and you know I can't have more than six Pokémon with me at a time."

"Monferno," Monferno smiled then hopped onto the table, completely blocking Harry's view of his grandfather, so that she could wave at Professor Rowan.

"Good," Harry said and pulled Monferno off the table, carefully avoiding her tail flame, "Grandpa, I need you to prepare for the trade."


End file.
